Uncomfortable moment ESPN announcer mistakes Ole Miss player for LSU star who died by suicide

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy made an innocent-yet-unfortunate mistake during Thursday’s Sugar Bowl as he accidentally referenced a player who recently died by suicide.

Calling the College Football Playoff quarterfinal, McElroy intended to compliment Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy, who’d gained 46 yards on just seven carries over the first quarter against Georgia.

But instead of Kewan, McElroy said he loves the way ‘Kyren Lacy runs.’

Kyren Lacy is the former LSU wide receiver and NFL hopeful who took his own life in April after being blamed for a vehicular crash that claimed the life of a 78-year-old man in December of 2024. Lacy’s attorney had claimed to have exonerating evidence proving his client wasn’t involved in the accident, although Louisiana police maintained their belief he was to blame.

Obviously McElroy had no intention of reminding fans of that tragedy, so when he did accidentally utter ‘Kyren Lacy,’ he was quick to correct himself: ‘Kewan Lacy.’

Unfortunately for McElroy, a former quarterback at Alabama and with the New York Jets, it was too late. Fans watching on ESPN seized on the moment, leading to a sizeable online reaction.

To his credit, McElroy was unfazed and continued calling the game alongside ESPN’s play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough, who was named 2025 National Sportscaster of the Year prior to Thursday’s Sugar Bowl.

‘Greg McElroy and Sean McDonough 2 of my favorite commentators,’ one fan wrote online.

Kyren Lacy’s death remains an understandably difficult subject for fans. He had been facing felony charges of negligent homicide, hit-and-run and reckless operation of a vehicle stemming from the fatal car crash, but Louisiana prosecutors never had a chance to prove him guilty in court.

Lacy was arrested following a December 17 crash that claimed the life of 78-year-old Herman Hall.

Two days later, Lacy declared for the NFL Draft, only to become the subject of an arrest warrant in Louisiana for allegedly fleeing the scene of that accident.

Lacy’s case was set to be heard by a grand jury on April 14, less than 48 hours after he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

On April 12, Lacy allegedly had an argument with a family member and fired a gun into the ground.

He fled the scene, leading officers to search for the Louisiana native. But, when cops identified the car he was driving and attempted a traffic stop, Lacy allegedly led them on a miles-long car chase that ended with another crash, this one in Spring, Texas.

Lacy was found dead in the driver’s seat, the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

‘I just know in my heart [fellow attorney Matthew Ory] and I was gone (sic) get you outta this situation, I knew you were innocent from day 1 because I was the first person you called while the traffic was being diverted around the wreckage,’ Lacy’s attorney John M. Allen III wrote on Facebook after his client’s death.

Allen went on to add: ‘for you internet adult a**holes he never fled the scene nor caused the wreck he was actually 3-4 cars behind the wreck.’