CBS analyst Gary Danielson apologizes for comments after Georgia student photographer got knocked out
CBS college football analyst Gary Danielson apologized Saturday for comments he made in the moments after Georgia student photographer Chamberlain Smith was knocked out during the network’s telecast of Georgia’s win over Auburn in Week 12.
Smith got knocked out when she got hit by Georgia running back Brian Herrien as Herrien was forced out of bounds. As Smith laid on the ground unconscious, Danielson was seemingly unaware of the magnitude of the situation. He was primarily concerned with the health of the players — even chuckling when noting that the players were fine and Smith was not — and had to be told by play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler that Smith was a woman and not a man.
“Last week in real-time, I just didn’t see what happened,” Danielson said at the beginning of Georgia’s game vs. Texas A&M. “In fact, I might have been the last person to see what happened. That confusion and my commentary that followed led some to conclude that I was kind of being insensitive to Chamberlain’s serious situation. That certainly wasn’t my intent ... And simply put, I should have been better. I want to apologize to Chamberlain and our CBS viewers for that.”
Smith, who got a great picture of Herrien before the collision, tweeted earlier in the day that she’d be watching the game from home and not at the stadium in Athens.
Me & my black eye will be cheering on the dawgs from the safety of my living room today!! See y’all on the sidelines again soon ❤️ pic.twitter.com/PwPoJC29JN
— Chamberlain Smith (@ChamberlainSmit) November 23, 2019
Smith regained consciousness as she was tended to by medical personnel on the field. She was taken off the field at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital where she was treated and released later that evening.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports
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