ESPN Typo Reading 'Drink and Drunk' May Be More Truth Than Fiction

The cable sports channel recently ran a typo related to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on its side-screen ticker page during “Monday Night Football.” The typo, presumably meant to refer to Roethlisberger’s signature “dink and dunk” playing style, read instead “drink and drunk.”

The glitch might have gone unnoticed for most players, but Roethlisberger has a history of alcohol abuse. In fact, he got a four-game suspension for his drunken escapades a few years back.

Because of the connection to Roethlisberger’s hard-drinking image, many wonder whether the graphic was indeed a typo or if a station programmer was having fun at the player’s expense. 

In any case, ESPN host Chris Berman has apologized for the on-air error.

“Earlier in the show we had a graphic error in the rundown,” Berman said on air. “We apologize for the mistake. Not sure how it happened. It won’t happen again.”

Some fans have found the “drink and drunk” typo funny, while others think Berman’s appology was too little, too late.

“Hahaaa if this was a joke and not really a typo.. I want to high five the guy who did it.. very funny,” wrote one fan on Twitter.

The sports blog Deadspin, however, wrote that Berman delivered “the most vague apology possible” on ESPN and that the typo was in all likelihood no accident.