ESPN announcer Steve Levy makes insensitive Deondre Francois reference

ESPN announcer Steve Levy did not have his best moment on Saturday night.

Levy, a host turned play-by-play announcer, was on the call for the Clemson-Auburn game Saturday. Clemson QB Kelly Bryant went down with a potential injury in the second quarter, though he returned on the team’s next drive to lead Clemson to a touchdown.

Levy, reflecting on Bryant’s return from what initially appeared to be a serious injury, said the QB was “Deondre Francoising [Bryant],” which was his way of saying he was writing Bryant off for the season with an injury. Francois was declared out for the season after suffering a knee injury in FSU’s loss to Alabama.

Here’s the audio clip:

Are you kidding me? The announcer in the #AUBvsCLEM just used "Deondre Francoising" as a new way to describe a season ending injury… awful pic.twitter.com/W7o6l0Tmmj

— Melina Myers (@melinasphotos) September 10, 2017

There was no reason to refer to Francois in that context. Unsurprisingly, many fans didn’t appreciate the comment from Levy.

Here’s a look at the backlash he felt on Twitter:

Garbage commentary by @espnSteveLevy tonight. "Deondre Francois-ing him" because of an apparent serious injury. Absolutely classless.

— Adam McAuliffe (@AdamMcAuliffe) September 10, 2017

@espnSteveLevy Class-less. And will not be forgotten.

— Steven Stiefel ™ (@stevenstiefel) September 10, 2017

@espnSteveLevy with all due respect,I like you a lot , but"Franciosing "??? You're better than that..

— Stephen Ujvari Jr. (@Unconquered0412) September 10, 2017

Not as bad as what @espnSteveLevy did by using Deondre Francois' name as a verb for a possible season ending injury during the game.

— Mike (@Dodar1592) September 10, 2017