Report: ESPN announcer Mark Jones will not call Washington games this year

Mark Jones’ feud with the Washington Huskies apparently has led to the announcer being banned from calling the team’s games for ESPN this year.

Jones, who is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN, tweeted a shot at Washington on Sunday, a day after the Huskies lost a tough season opener to Auburn.

Washington Huskies took one one on the chin. Where’s Montana ?

— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) September 2, 2018

His “where’s Montana” line was a reference to one of the weak non-conference opponents Washington played last season. ESPN actually had a rocky relationship with Washington last year due to the infamous cupcake stunt. Jones also called Huskies head coach Chris Petersen “irascible and somewhat cantankerous” while broadcasting last year’s game against Cal.

Jones sent a more positive tweet about Washington on Monday, saying he still thinks the Huskies “will have a great season.”

Hey don’t get me wrong…I still think Washington will have a great season..losing to Auburn in their backyard is a lot better than what a team like Miami did to their CFP chances. All love Seattle. S/o to the bruthas at Greenlake Park

— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) September 3, 2018

Despite that tweet, the damage apparently had already been done. Both Bay Area News Group’s Jon Wilner and The Seattle Times said that Washington was told Mark Jones will not be assigned to any of their football games this year.

ESPN's Mark Jones won't be assigned to any Washington games this season, per UW official

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) September 3, 2018

Fans of teams often think and complain that announcers are biased against them. In this case, Washington fans might have a good reason for believing that.