ESPN Mormonism Joke is More College Sport Intolerance

[Pyreaux]

Ryan McGee wrote an ESPN article about a BYU ranking that included a joke about the Golden Plates. As of Thursday, the BYU Cougars were 8-1 at the time and ranked in the Top 25, had just suffered a significant upset loss to Texas Tech, a lesser-ranked team, in Lubbock, Texas. This loss ended BYU's undefeated streak and was considered a major blunder. Ryan McGee's "Bottom 10" column is a satirical list of the 10 worst performers in college football that week. A recurring gag in the column is the "Coveted Fifth Spot," which is typically reserved for a team that experiences a major, unexpected, or embarrassing failure (like a highly-ranked team getting blown out by an underdog). The loss to Texas Tech landed BYU in this infamous "Fifth Spot."

The joke; "Legend has it, after the angel Moroni showed Joseph Smith the golden plates upon which the Mormon Church was founded, he also warned Smith to make sure to heed the oft-forgotten inscription located on the scratched up backside of the plates: 'BEWARE THE COVETED FIFTH SPOT LEST IT BITE YOU IN THE BEHIND IN LUBBOCK'"

The author likely intended it as a lighthearted, self-deprecating gag aimed at the team's performance, but the immediate and strong backlash centered on the fact that it mocked a religion. Making a joke out of the faith's narrative and figures was inappropriate in a professional publication like ESPN. Many pointed out that ESPN writers rarely, if ever, use jokes about Catholicism to deliver commentary on a Catholic school like Notre Dame, highlighting a perceived double standard.

Oh No, Here Come the Mormons

The backlash to the ESPN joke primarily came from members of the Latter-day Saint community, particularly BYU fans and alumni, and other individuals who felt the joke was a form of religious bigotry and showed a lack of professionalism.

A Social Media outcry was seen on X/Twitter, and was the most immediate and visible backlash. Fans and members called out ESPN writer Ryan McGee directly, expressing anger, disappointment, and offense. They were the ones arguing that an ESPN writer would not have dared to use the Bible or the Pope to comment on Notre Dame, highlighting a perceived double standard aimed at the LDS faith. Many saw the phrase "Legend has it..."  was to refer to the faith's origin story as a myth. And they were particularly upset that this level of disrespect was published by a major, established, and professional media outlet like ESPN, not in a blog or personal X account.

Neutral journalists and outside commentators noted this was a lapse in judgment. Not necessarily one of religious offense, but of poor editorial standards, observing that a professional outlet should not be in the business of mocking the religion of any group. Neutral observers reinforced the point that the joke was likely allowed to be published because it targeted a faith often seen as an "easy target" in sports culture*, a standard that would never be applied to a prominent Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim institution.

ESPN Editor's Prompt Retraction

The swift and quiet editing/retraction of the joke by ESPN's editors and the subsequent public apology by the writer Ryan McGee indicated that the comment was flagged internally as inappropriate and was a violation of the network's editorial standards. Driven by the perception that the writer and ESPN had indeed engaged in sacrilege and religious discrimination, leveraging the founding story of the LDS Church as cheap joke material.

So, after a bit of online discussion, an editor's decision and the subsequent retraction/edit by ESPN means they implicitly acknowledge the inappropriateness, regardless of the joke's perceived harmlessness.

The Larger Picture at Stake Here

The seemingly minor, even mild, joke highlights the critical lapse in ESPN's professionalism and, more profoundly, underscores a persistent, more vicious strain of anti-Mormon intolerance bubbling beneath the surface of college sports culture. For a major journalistic entity like ESPN, any mockery or generalization of a religious belief, no matter how tame the wording, constitutes a lapse in professionalism.

In 2008, Ric Bucher made a comment on an ESPN radio show about Utah Jazz fans: "They are Mormons, and they are in Salt Lake, and there is nothing else there. You know, you gotta smile and be happy all the time. This is the one opportunity for people to get vicious." He later apologized, and ESPN issued a statement.

In 2018, Stephen A. Smith stated that Mormons are "Not Christian" while discussing the Utah Jazz, for which he later apologized.

In 2025, Ryan McGee make a joke about the Golden Plates is evidence of a pattern of clumsy or insensitive commentary concerning the faith by ESPN talent. A microcosm for the larger conversation around religious tolerance in sports. ESPN has a responsibility to maintain a standard of professionalism that actively avoids feeding into or even glancingly validating the kind of intolerance modernly seen in the stands.

* As the chant of "F* the Mormons" continues to echo across the country in college sports stadiums directed at Brigham Young University teams in Oregon, USC, Colorado, Arizona. Between editorial jokes and coordinated stadium chants highlights the normalization of this specific religious bigotry. Is college sport media and BYU's sport rivals creating a safe harbor for expressions of intolerance and prejudice against Latter-day Saints that would be unacceptable if directed at other religious or minority groups?

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/11/13/espn-ryan-mcgee-changes-joseph-smith-reference-in-column-byu-football/

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/byu-cougars/2025/11/13/espns-ryan-mcgee-apologizes-after/

[Calm]

11 minutes ago, Pyreaux said:

The seemingly minor, even mild, joke highlights the critical lapse in ESPN's professionalism and, more profoundly, underscores a persistent, more vicious strain of anti-Mormon intolerance bubbling beneath the surface of college sports culture. For a major journalistic entity like ESPN, any mockery or generalization of a religious belief, no matter how tame the wording, constitutes a lapse in professionalism.

Lapse in professionalism, sure.  Careless, sure.  Kind of juvenile, yep.  Not that funny, definitely.
 

Not sure if indicative of a vicious strain of anti Mormonism.  Would depend on what else he has done in the past and will do in the future. 
 

“Is college sport media and BYU's sport rivals creating a safe harbor for expressions of intolerance and prejudice against Latter-day Saints that would be unacceptable if directed at other religious or minority groups?”

Generally speaking, if there is intolerance against one group, it is highly likely there is intolerance against another. What is notable is victims often don’t notice it because it’s not important to them or they accept prejudice in ways they refuse to when they or loved ones are targeted, unfortunately demonstrating their own prejudices, imo.

I tend to wonder whenever I hear something along the lines of “is (fill in your own sensitive topic) the last acceptable prejudice?”  Heard that or something close from LDS, Catholics (there is even a book on anticatholicism with that title), other faiths, minorities, whites, overweight community, disability communities, women, men….which seems to imply socially acceptable prejudices in general are alive and well and not winnowed down to the last one yet. 

Edited November 14, 2025 by Calm

[Calm]

A search online (I am not familiar at all with this topic) shows allegations of prejudice at ESPN over race, sex (including harassment and comment about women provoking domestic violence), anti Muslim, Jesus and Notre Dame, Christmas, homosexuality, disability discrimination (one a skin condition, another hearing).

[gopher]

It wasn't very funny or clever, but hardly something to get upset about.  I hope members don't become offended every time someone makes a joke about the church.  It's become so performative in society that it's difficult to determine if someone truly is offended anymore.  My guess is most people were more hurt by him criticizing the BYU football team than his weak joke about about the golden plates.  It would be nice if members would defend the church as much as they defend BYU football.

And BYU was only ranked 2 spots ahead of Texas Tech before the game so it wasn't really a big upset, even though BYU played horribly.  I think even serious fans realized that being ranked 6th or 7th was unrealistically high for BYU who haven't played well in all their games despite their record.

[Pyreaux]

7 hours ago, Calm said:

Lapse in professionalism, sure.  Careless, sure.  Kind of juvenile, yep.  Not that funny, definitely.
 

Not sure if indicative of a vicious strain of anti Mormonism.  Would depend on what else he has done in the past and will do in the future. 
 

“Is college sport media and BYU's sport rivals creating a safe harbor for expressions of intolerance and prejudice against Latter-day Saints that would be unacceptable if directed at other religious or minority groups?”

Generally speaking, if there is intolerance against one group, it is highly likely there is intolerance against another. What is notable is victims often don’t notice it because it’s not important to them or they accept prejudice in ways they refuse to when they or loved ones are targeted, unfortunately demonstrating their own prejudices, imo.

I tend to wonder whenever I hear something along the lines of “is (fill in your own sensitive topic) the last acceptable prejudice?”  Heard that or something close from LDS, Catholics (there is even a book on anticatholicism with that title), other faiths, minorities, whites, overweight community, disability communities, women, men….which seems to imply socially acceptable prejudices in general are alive and well and not winnowed down to the last one yet. 

Correct, judging a single joke as "indicative" of a vicious strain of prejudice might be an overreach without looking at the history and future actions. However, the connection I made was in the context of "underscoring" a pre-existing, vicious anti-Mormonism seen in college sports. The documented and repeated incidents of "F* the Mormons" chants and other acts that are not jokes. It is not "indicative" proof of the writer's or ESPN's own vicious anti-Mormon intent. But the joke and its aftermath underscores, highlights or accentuates a larger, pre-existing, vicious strain.

The connection is that the mildness of the editorial joke and the severity of the stadium chants exist on the same spectrum and bubble. The retraction underscores the severity of the chants by proving that a professional outlet feels it cannot even risk the appearance of adding to the hostile environment.

The argument is that ESPN's joke, by using a religion as the punchline, adds to the climate that makes the stadium chants feel acceptable. The retraction acknowledges that a mainstream media outlet should not contribute any material that legitimizes mocking the faith, lest it be seen as validating the more overtly hateful conduct currently happening in the stands.

Calm's and Nehor's "The Last Acceptable Prejudice" Fallacy

A rhetorical claim used by members of a group to argue that their specific form of prejudice is the only one remaining that society tolerates or allows to be expressed openly. It is a fallacy because, as a universal claim, it is false. While the claim effectively highlights the real and painful prejudice faced by a group, its use by many different and diverse groups simultaneously demonstrates a simple truth: no single form of prejudice is the last acceptable one.

The anti-Mormonism seen in sports is not unique; it is simply one visible manifestation of a general willingness to use prejudice to attack an opponent or an "other."

Is the perceived double standard against the LDS faith valid when compared to Catholicism?

ESPN and Notre Dame have a major, financially vested relationship with broadcasting rights, and major event coverage. Attacking or mocking Catholicism (the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary, the Pope) would likely be seen as a far greater threat to that business relationship and would incur a massive, swift public relations catastrophe. 

The Existence of Anti-Catholic ESPN Stories

The most notable and widely reported incident I found involved former ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson in January 2008.

While intoxicated at a roast for colleagues, Jacobson reportedly hurled profanity-laced insults, including "F*** Notre Dame," "F*** Touchdown Jesus," and, most controversially, "F*** Jesus." "Touchdown Jesus" is the nickname for the massive mosaic of Christ on the Notre Dame campus.

The backlash was immediate and severe, primarily led by Catholic organizations like the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. They pressed ESPN for accountability.

After some mixed messaging, ESPN suspended Jacobson for one week and she was required to issue an on-air apology, where she stated her remarks were "foolish and insensitive" and did "not mean anything derogatory by my poorly chosen words." The Catholic League eventually accepted this disciplinary action as sufficient, convinced that ESPN was taking the matter seriously.

The example of the Dana Jacobson incident shows LDS fans would be wrong to assume that ESPN personalities have not, on occasion, mocked the Catholic religion in the context of Notre Dame.

Edited November 15, 2025 by Pyreaux

[Calm]

58 minutes ago, Pyreaux said:

ESPN and Notre Dame have a major, financially vested relationship with broadcasting rights, and major event coverage. Attacking or mocking Catholicism (the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary, the Pope) would likely be seen as a far greater threat to that business relationship and would incur a massive, swift public relations catastrophe. 

ESPN was willing to sue Notre Dame because they wanted to investigate incidents involving players, so not sure how shy they are at offending the school.  Granted it was almost ten years ago.  Perhaps attitudes towards ND have changed.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/14980628/notre-dame-fighting-irish-police-department-operate-secret?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Edited November 15, 2025 by Calm

[JAHS]

If they are going to make a joke about the Church it should at least be funny. 🙄 
“He who takes offense when offense was not intended is a fool, yet he who takes offense when offense is intended is an even greater fool for he has succumbed to the will of his adversary.”  ― Brigham Young

[ZealouslyStriving]

I think people are more "upset" that McGhee's general mindset is that the claims of "Mormonism" are such a universally agreed upon load of ridiculous tall tales that his lame joke would actually land.

Edited November 15, 2025 by ZealouslyStriving

[Stargazer]

It was a pretty dumb joke. And not funny. But I actually don't see it as an anti-LDS thing. The legend-has-it thing had nothing to do with supposed existence of the plates, it pertains to a legendary engraving on the back warning about the placement of the team. So perhaps it could be seen as expressing a belief in the plates' possible existence. 

Maybe I'm not offended because I don't particularly care about sports. BYU sports included. In any case, my knickers aren't in any kind of twist over this.

Edited November 15, 2025 by Stargazer

[Devobah]

Let’s face it: we are a group on a very short list that you can make fun of without much backlash. Weird history, strange doctrines, and seemingly never in the news for good things (outside of Church Newsroom). We’re the group that loves everybody and seemingly everybody doesn’t like us. I’ve stopped losing sleep over it. It’s just the way things are. 
People will make their jokes and then make their retractions because it’s not like anyone’s lost a job over it (meaning any anti-LDS chants or comments). If there is a fine it’s not anything big at all in the vast wealth that some of these schools have. Make the statement and then issue an apology. Chant your chant and then pay the fine. It’s still going to happen again because it always has. It is what it is. 

[Tony uk]

I've found, in some cases, what people can not reasonably argue against. They try and make fun of, or try and fault find. If the LdS is being targeted by whatever means. Maybe because the LdS is rightly on a higher ground to the people taking aim.

I hope that makes sense 😃. 

[The Nehor]

This is like a joke aimed at people that believe in astrology. Not a lot of malice and just a lot of eye-rolling at how ridiculous it is.

[ZealouslyStriving]

On 11/16/2025 at 11:20 AM, Tony uk said:

I've found, in some cases, what people can not reasonably argue against. They try and make fun of, or try and fault find. If the LdS is being targeted by whatever means. Maybe because the LdS is rightly on a higher ground to the people taking aim.

I hope that makes sense 😃. 

They hate us because they can't beat us.

"Whenever they kick Mormonism, they kick it uphill." - Brigham Young (?)

[MustardSeed]

People don’t hate winners.  They don’t mock Mormons for winning.  They hate us because we come across in an unlikable way. 

[bluebell]

1 hour ago, MustardSeed said:

People don’t hate winners.  They don’t mock Mormons for winning.  They hate us because we come across in an unlikable way. 

Or they don’t actually know any latter-day Saints in person, and they’re getting most of their information from sources that don’t like us. 

[bluebell]

7 hours ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

They hate us because they can't beat us.

"Whenever they kick Mormonism, they kick it uphill." - Brigham Young (?)

I think I see what you mean but I’m not exactly sure?  Do you mean they hate us because they aren’t able to convince us that they are right about us?  That they hate us because we just keep on keeping on regardless of their opinions about us?

Or were you talking about something with sports?

[ZealouslyStriving]

38 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I think I see what you mean but I’m not exactly sure?  Do you mean they hate us because they aren’t able to convince us that they are right about us?  That they hate us because we just keep on keeping on regardless of their opinions about us?

Or were you talking about something with sports?

You nailed it. 

(Not sports. 😄)

[MustardSeed]

47 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Or they don’t actually know any latter-day Saints in person, and they’re getting most of their information from sources that don’t like us. 

Could be.  But frankly sometimes even I dislike us. 

[bluebell]

19 minutes ago, MustardSeed said:

Could be.  But frankly sometimes even I dislike us. 

I think most of us are like a monet painting; beautiful from a distance but up close, kind of a mess. 

Some messes we are willing to tolerate and others we aren't.  Some messes we have mercy for and some we don't.    For me personally, it probably depends on the day and how long it has been since I last ate.  I can be very forgiving and charitable and I can be very self-righteous and judgmental.   

Sometimes I dislike me, so I can see why other people sometimes dislike me too.  

[Tony uk]

The LdS has meat on the bone so to speak. There is doctrine which is based on belief. And also, an organised leadership. This unfortunately will make it a target, for others. 

[MustardSeed]

I readily admit that I am quite judgmental.  

[Calm]

3 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Could be.  But frankly sometimes even I dislike us. 

In past Pew polls if one knew a Saint, one tended to like us significantly more than if one didn’t.  In the most recent poll that difference wasn’t there iirc. 

My guess is this is due to the greater political polarization and the view of LDS as mostly conservative leading those on the left to be less positive about us even if they know a member (because they either know or assume they are conservatives) and a good portion of those on the right who would usually tend to improve how they think about us if they think we are also on the right still holding their religious bias that is against us (white Evangelicals are the group that have always disliked us the most iirc, but that might be only the report of our perception, I know they don’t think they dislike us as much as we think they dislike us…I need to check).

I don’t have time to dig up the link right now. Will try to find it latter if I remember.

Edited November 20, 2025 by Calm

[Calm]

2 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Could be.  But frankly sometimes even I dislike us. 

As a whole or certain more vocal communities within the greater faith communities (I definitely dislike some of the hobbies and passions members group around as well as how politics often  gets played out, but the majority of members don’t seem to be part of these situations it seems to me)?

Edited November 20, 2025 by Calm

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, MustardSeed said:

I readily admit that I am quite judgmental.  

But you're real.

[MustardSeed]

3 hours ago, Calm said:

As a whole or certain more vocal communities within the greater faith communities (I definitely dislike some of the hobbies and passions members group around as well as how politics often  gets played out, but the majority of members don’t seem to be part of these situations it seems to me)?

Patterns, beliefs, traditions, behaviors, all of which tend to permeate but of course find exception.