Even those in Bristol have a hard time remembering who still works there.
In an especially awkward case of 21st century aggregation and crediting, ESPN’s Steve Levy attributed a breaking story to “our own Brett McMurphy” — a reporter who hasn’t worked for ESPN since he was a victim of April’s massive layoffs.
On Saturday, McMurphy, a longtime prominent college football reporter, broke the news that Central Florida coach Scott Frost had agreed to a seven-year deal with Nebraska. As a media free agent, he delivered the scoop on Twitter.
Word traveled and others confirmed McMurphy’s report. On ABC, Frost’s Central Florida team was in a second overtime with Memphis in an eventual 62-55 win. Levy, calling play-by-play, informed the viewers of Frost’s reported pending departure, saying, “First reported by our own Brett McMurphy.”
Levy at the time did not notice his slip-up. McMurphy did.
“Our own,” tweeted McMurphy, who also then tweaked his Twitter profile to read, “College Football Insider; some outlets refer to me as ‘Our own’ or ‘Report:'”
On Sunday, the mistake caught up to Levy, who wrote, “If i failed to mention it… Excellent reporting yesterday by @Brett_McMurphy.”
“Ours forever,” added fellow ESPN anchor John Buccigross.
