Acho seemed to liken Reese to a ‘cowardly’ cartoon figure. Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL linebacker who now works as a television sports analyst, has received some criticism for recent comments about NCAA basketball standout Angel Reese.
During Tuesday’s episode of Fox Sports’ “Speak,” Acho and the panel began discussing Reese’s emotional press conference, in which the All-American opened up about some of the criticism she faced over the last year.
“I’ve been through so much,” Reese explained. “I have seen so much. I’ve been attacked several times, with death threats. I have been sexualized. I have been threatened. “I’ve been so many things, and I’ve stood strong every time,” Reese said after LSU’s 94-87 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight.
“I just want to be strong for my teammates because I don’t want them to think I’m depressed and not there for them. I am still a human. All of this has occurred since I won the national title. I have not felt serenity since then.”
Acho began his remarks by stating that he had a “gender-neutral, racially indifferent take” on Reese and her words.
“You can’t be the big, bad wolf but then cry like Courage the Cowardly Dog,” he continued, referring to the Cartoon Network character.
Acho stated that Reese should have handled his defeat differently.
Black women have historically been the most marginalized group in America, but I’m going to give a gender neutral and racially indifferent take on Angel Reese:
“In sports, you can’t act like the big bad wolf, then cry like courage the cowardly dog.” pic.twitter.com/aUtxZ7JHk4
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 2, 2024
“If you want to act grown, which she has; if you want to get paid like you’re grown, which you are; if you want to talk to grown folks like you’re grown, which you did … then postgame when you take a ‘L,’ you’ve just got to take it on the chin,” he went on to say.
“What frustrated me is when you want to be the villain, but you want to hope for sympathy like a hero,” he went on to say. Reese has spoken out about being dubbed a villain because of her competitive behavior on the court.
“Speak” co-hosts LeSean McCoy and James Jones seemed to agree with Acho’s take. But Acho faced his share of detractors, including his other co-host, Joy Taylor, who questioned why Reese had become publicly known as the “villian.”
Regarding the Angel Reese dialogue: thank you. pic.twitter.com/SUtjE87iaP
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 4, 2024
“She didn’t make herself the villain. She showed up unapologetically herself in the same way that men do all the time,” she said, later adding that what Reese “experiences is not the same thing as what everyone is experiencing.”
Acho appeared to take the backlash in stride and took to social media to thank those who he said “respectfully reprimanded” him.
“I do not stand on a hill saying that I am right and you are wrong,” he said. “I simply stand on a place saying: ‘Hey, this is what I believe. What do you believe? Let’s listen to one another and construct our collective beliefs.’”
Earlier this week, Reese announced her decision to leave LSU and pursue the WNBA Draft. She is expected to be a top-ten choice.
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