ESPN has fired Hugh Douglas

Former NFL defensive end Hugh Douglas has been fired by ESPN, according to SI.com.

The Numbers Never Lie co-host was let go over a confrontation reported on last week between him and co-host Michael Smith. Douglas, reportedly inebriated, called Smith an “Uncle Tom,” among other incidents at a National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Orlando. “He no longer works effective today,” an ESPN spokesman told SI. No immediate replacement for Douglas on Numbers Never Lie, which also features Jemele Hill, was named.

Douglas, a three-time Pro Bowler, was hired by ESPN in August of 2011. He was originally sort of a roving analyst, appearing on programs like SportsCenter, First Take and NFL Live. He was officially named a co-host of Numbers Never Lie, another of ESPN’s afternoon chatfests, in September of 2012. The show, which originally began as a more statistics-based discussion show, is now more or less another sports talk show.

This is the second firing in recent memory at ESPN over an embarrassing, somewhat racial comment. Commentator Rob Parker was fired from First Take late last year over calling Robert Griffin III a “cornball brother.”

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