ESPN Makes Decision On Monica McNutt After ‘First Take’ Blunder originally appeared on The Spun.
ESPN appears to have made a decision on Monica McNutt following her embarrassing “First Take” blunder last week.
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McNutt, known for her coverage of the WNBA, has been branching out into other sports and other roles at the network. On Friday, McNutt served as a guest host of ESPN’s “First Take.” While McNutt was part of a two-hour show, it was a 30-second clip, featuring comedian Druski and Stephen A. Smith, that made all of the headlines – and for very good reason.
The ESPN personality did not appear to know who Barry Sanders is. She made an embarrassing blunder while referencing Druski’s No. 20 Detroit Lions jersey, which he wore on the show.
Monica McNutt on the air at ESPN.First Take.
McNutt went viral when she referred to Druski’s No. 20 Detroit Lions Barry Sanders jersey as something related to Shedeur Sanders. “The jersey, obviously this ties to one Shedeur Sanders…” she said before being interrupted.
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“No, no, no, no, no,” Druski replied, clearly confused. “This is, uh, Barry Sanders.”
ESPN makes a decision on McNutt on Monday
While Molly Qerim remains out for ESPN’s “First Take,” the network decided to go in a different direction for guest host on Monday, August 18. McNutt was not part of the first 90 minutes of the program on Monday. It’s unclear if she wasn’t previously scheduled or if this was in reaction to her on-air blunder last week.
Regardless, she was not part of the program on Monday morning, August 18.
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Monday morning’s show featured Stephen A. Smith, Dan Orlovsky, Adam Schefter, Mike Tannebaum and others.
Fans calling for more changes at ESPN
In the wake of McNutt’s blunder, fans are calling for more changes at ESPN. Fans want to hear from the people who really know the sport they are talking about. We don’t need NFL analysts talking about the NBA or WNBA analysts not understanding who Barry Sanders is.
“This is Monica McNutt. She works for ESPN and doesn’t know who Barry Sanders is. How is it possible an employee at ESPN doesn’t know who that is? I think I know the answer, do you?” one fan wrote.
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“And they wonder why ratings are down…” one fan added.
“ESPN used to have the best sports media personalities. Also, McNutt once said Caitlin Clark is popular because she’s white…” one fan added.
McNutt has sparked controversy in the past
McNutt, who is mostly known for covering the WNBA, once said that Caitlin Clark is popular, at least in part, due to her race.
“I think Caitlin represented — and again, some of this to me probably is not fair to her, because it was not anything that she said or was truly based on her personality — but she was a white girl from the middle of America,” McNutt told BBC. “And so she represented a whole lot to many people, whether that is indeed what she ascribed to or not.
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McNutt added: “We can all say she’s a dynamic basketball player and a force both on the court and in a marketing sense. But I do think the same thing applies to folks who may have fallen in love with Angel Reese; she may or may not have agreed with everything they had to say, either. We attach our fandom to these icons for all types of reasons, and sometimes they may not be based in truth.”
McNutt has stayed silent on social media
In the wake of her “First Take” blunder, many fans have been waiting to hear from McNutt, perhaps with a statement or apology of some kind. But thus far, we haven’t heard from the ESPN analyst.
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Her last post on X came on July 26.
Her last Instagram post came six days ago.
We’ll have to wait and see when McNutt will next appear on ESPN.
ESPN Makes Decision On Monica McNutt After ‘First Take’ Blunder first appeared on The Spun on Aug 18, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 18, 2025, where it first appeared.