Mike Tirico had to turn to the bullpen during Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
The longtime NBC announcer Tirico was forced to exit early from the network’s coverage of the annual Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Tirico was battling an apparent illness but began on NBC’s pre-race coverage as scheduled.
It was clear to many fans online though that something was wrong with Tirico’s voice.
Shortly after 3 PM local time in Kentucky, NBC officially swapped Tirico out of the broadcast. He was replaced by Ahmed Fareed, who relayed to the viewers that Tirico was “feeling a little under the weather.”
The nature of Tirico’s illness was not disclosed. But it probably did not help that Saturday was a cold, wet, and rainy day at Churchill Downs with a high of only 59 degrees on the day.
Tirico, 58, has over three decades of experience as a sportscaster and has been with NBC since 2016 (after his contract with ESPN, whom Tirico had worked for since 1991, expired). Over the years, Tirico has taken on a wide multitude of assignments for NBC across all different sports, most notably as the lead play-by-play announcer for “Sunday Night Football” but also as the anchor for events such as The Open Championship, the Indianapolis 500, and both the Summer and the Winter Olympics. Tirico will also have a major role during the NBA’s impending return to NBC next season.
In 2017, Tirico succeeded Tom Hammond as NBC’s lead anchor for Triple Crown coverage (including the Kentucky Derby). But this year, Tirico was unable to complete his usual Derby duties for the network due to an apparent illness.
