*Tiffany Haddish’s appearance at the NFL Honors ceremony ignited criticism from football fans and sports commentators. The comedian faced backlash after announcing New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel as the NFL Coach of the Year and stumbling over the pronunciation of his last name during the live event in San Francisco.
While his surname is pronounced “vray-bull,” Haddish said “verbal” when presenting the award, a moment that went viral and prompted sharp reactions from viewers.
Haddish addressed the controversy while attending Shaq’s Fun House on Friday. Speaking to the Daily Mail, she defended her approach and stood by how she read the name aloud onstage. “I pronounced that coach’s name the way that it was written,” she said when asked about the criticism.
She doubled down by emphasizing the spelling itself, explaining her reasoning with humor. “Have you seen how it is spelled? V-R-A-B-E-L,” Haddish added. “I learned how to read with Hooked on Phonics!”
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Despite her response, the backlash continued online, with several media figures and fans calling the moment embarrassing. Conservative sports commentator Jon Root criticized the presentation, writing, “This was another embarrassing moment for the league at NFL Honors… Comedian Tiffany Haddish mispronounced New England Patriots HC Mike Vrable’s [sic] name as “Mike Verbal” during the Coach of the Year presentation This was unprofessional & disrespectful.”
Boston sports writer Dan Kelley also weighed in, suggesting preparation could have prevented the issue. “Tiffany Haddish really should have practiced saying “Mike Vrabel” before NFL Honors tonight,” he wrote, while still congratulating Vrabel on winning “the Bill Belichick Award as NFL Coach of the Year! (yet to be named) Extremely well-deserved!”
Another social media user echoed similar frustration, writing, “Too much to ask Tiffany Haddish to get Mike Vrabel’s name right? Too much to ask someone ‘Hey, how do you pronounce this?’ Too much for a producer to say ‘Hey, just to cover the bases, it’s Vray-bull.’ That is wildly embarrassing…”
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