Ben Watson came up well short of pulling a full-fledged Will Smith, but the former NFL tight end was not pleased when his wife was included in a joke by fellow ESPN SEC Network analyst Peter Burns.
During the SEC Network broadcast Saturday, Burns and the panel were ribbing Watson for his choice of suit. Watson continued the joke by adding that as long as his wife was supportive of his fashion choices, nothing else mattered to him.
"So send me the text, babe," Watson said, prompting a laugh from others. "Send me the text."
Burns quickly replied: "That's not the one she sent me."
Watson and Burns were not on set when the broadcast returned from a break. When Watson returned to the set and sat down, a fellow ESPN SEC analyst asked if he instructed Burns to "keep his wife's name out his mouth," an ode to the Will Smith-Chris Rock fiasco at the Oscars. Watson was not in a joking mindset, though, despite those around him still smirking.
You can listen to the full interaction here. The video, posted to Twitter by user @CorkGaines, had 6.1 million views as of Sunday at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Burns took to Twitter on Saturday and tweeted a photo of him and Watson with the caption "#Friendship."
Watson quote-tweeted with the reply: "Moving on. But you still owe Mrs Watson a public apology."
Amanda Brooks, ESPN's director of college football and the SEC Network, told OutKick the interaction was a "performance bit" and said Watson deserves "an Emmy nomination." But it doesn't seem to be that way in the eyes of the longtime New England Patriots tight end.
