Shaken sideline reporter Sergio Dipp took to Twitter to try to explain his meltdown on ESPN's "Monday Night Football."
As a minority himself, the Mexico native said he was trying to show "respect" to the African-American head coaches on the sidelines, Vance Joseph of the Broncos and Anthony Lynn of the Chargers. The second game of ESPN's "MNF" doubleheaders marked the first time two African-American coaches made their respective head coaching debuts in the same game, according to the New York Post.
Dipp normally reports in Spanish on soccer, not English about the NFL, for ESPN Deportes.
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Sergio Dipp for every game pic.twitter.com/ZhRJppvEAU
— Mike Tunison (@xmasape) September 12, 2017
Sitting in what looked like his Denver hotel room, Dipp said he was still "trying to digest" what happened to a "29-year old Mexican guy."
"So what I wanted to do was to show some respect, making my debut as a minority on American national TV. The biggest stage out there," Dipp said, while appearing to look down at written notes. "On the most heartfelt day, in this great country made up by immigrants. And on some people’s perspective, it all went wrong. But I truly meant no disrespect. Because all I wanted to do was to show some love to these two historical head coaches."
Thank you...
— Sergio Dipp (@SergioADippW) September 12, 2017
And God bless America.🇺🇸✔️ pic.twitter.com/mYXwBNFB6g
By the end of his statement, Dipp even managed a weak smile.
"Hopefully I’ll have another chance," he said. "I’ll be sure I’ll make the most out of it."
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We'll see about that, Sergio.
Look, it's not the end of the world. We all make mistakes.
Dipp just made his on national TV. He was roasted for it on Twitter.
There's no way this guy actually works for ESPN pic.twitter.com/6u0xEu4xPL
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) September 12, 2017
But Dipp owned up to his babbling performance with grace and humor.
Check out his tweet from last night.
— Sergio Dipp (@SergioADippW) September 12, 2017
That kind of self-deprecating humor goes a long way with TV viewers.
As long as he doesn't make himself out to be a martyr, and act like a drama queen, Dipp might even be able to make some lemonade out of last night's lemon. Hell, if I'm ESPN, I give him another shot to prove himself on "MNF." You know some sports fans will tune in just to watch that.
The Dipp disaster underlines once again the value of smart, experienced sideline reporters such as ESPN's Lisa Salters, NBC's Michele Tafoya, Fox's Erin Andrews and CBS' Tracy Wolfson.
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The sideline reporter job looks easy. It isn't. You only realize that when somebody like Dipp shows how it can go wrong.
ESPN declined to comment on whether Dipp will work another "MNF" game.
As the regular "MNF" sideline reporter, Salters will work the rest of the games this season. Dipp only appeared on Broncos-Chargers with Beth Mowins and Rex Ryan because Salters was working the sidelines for the earlier Vikings-Saints telecast.
The good news?
It doesn't appear Dipp will lose his job.
Said an ESPN source: "Sergio is a young guy with hopefully a bright future ahead. He just had a tough night. He would not have been on the game if he wasn't well regarded at our place."
