Colin Cowherd Takes Shots At ESPN As eGamer Controversy Continues

Colin Cowherd is known to say controversial things. It’s one of the reasons he was booted from ESPN before his contract ended in July, just as he was headed to fledgling network FOX Sports 1.

But lost in the latest Colin Cowherd controversy involving eSports, gamers, and Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz, are all the shots Colin’s taken against his former employers at ESPN.

It started last week, as reported by the Washington Post, where Colin Cowherd took a verbal jab against ESPN’s flagship morning show, Mike and Mike.

“You know, their morning show, Mike and Mike, we used to call it ‘Mickey and Mickey in the morning.’ It’s very Disney, it’s very safe, it’s very likeable, nobody’s going to get yelled at. It’s a very easy place for advertisers to come in, park their insurance commercial and nobody’s going to be offended. That’s the culture; it’s Disney-owned.”

During the same rant, Colin did mention that there were a lot of “great people” at ESPN before shedding light on another inside deal that almost took place involving DraftKings and ESPN.

“They wanted to buy DraftKings… They made a bid for it,” Cowherd revealed on air.

“Disney came in and said ‘No, you don’t.’ There is a struggle with that company, the former employer, right now, about gambling. Because ESPN is owned by Disney. When you think of Disney, you think of Lion King, you think of Frozen, you think Dancing With[the] Stars, and you think Pocahontas, and you think kids, and theme parks.”

This isn’t the first time Cowherd ripped ESPN, and it relates to his latest controversy surrounding eGamers. As reported by For The Win, Colin hasn’t been afraid to blast ESPN in the past, as he did when they chose to air a Heroes of the Storm tournament on ESPN2 in April. Fast forward to this week’s Colin Cowherd controversial rant involving Turner Sports’ decision to launch a new Counter-Strike league in 2016, with IMG and his tirade against his former employer coming to the surface again.

This time however, his knock on eGamers and the decision to air video game tournaments didn’t go unnoticed. Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz took time from training camp to personally come on Cowherd’s show to rip the sports talk host for his point of view.

“I think you’re wrong,” Haywood defiantly protested on The Herd this week. “More and more people are watching [eSports] every day and I think you follow along. The commentators are unbelievable. I’ve been there, to where they shoot everything, they sell out stadiums.”

Gordon also defended the notion that gamers everywhere are “29 and living in their mom’s basement,” as Colin had so succinctly put it.

“Number 1 you’re stereotyping. All the professional guys i know, they are professionals in every sense of the word. They are training 8-10 hours a day and it just so happens that they’re training does not require lift weights. The whole notion that they’re 29 living with their moms is just bullcrap. They have a house together, they train together. None of the guys are overweight. I think you’re stereotyping big time.”

Hayward had taken to Twitter previously to mock Cowherd with a photo from Colin’s distant past to prove his point, as well.

Hold up…@ColinCowherd is making fun of gamers for being dorks? People in glass houses… pic.twitter.com/L5UjhErkyT

— Gordon Hayward (@gordonhayward) September 30, 2015

Regardless of where you fall on the debate, it’s clear Colin will never hold back on his opinion, and the delight he gets ripping into ESPN. And for the suits at FOX Sports 1 that signed Cowherd to a multi-million dollar deal, as reported by Sports Illustrated in July, this kind of talk is music to their ears.

Watch Colin Cowherd square off against Gordon Hayward on The Herd below.

[Image via Waiting For Next Year]