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If only the Worldwide Leader spent as much time combing through Cowboys fan tweets as it did discussing America’s Team.
ESPN committed a major blunder Tuesday during a “First Take” segment centered on the Cowboys, with the show airing what they believed to be social media footage of quarterback Dak Prescott throwing a pass to newly acquired receiver George Pickens at training camp.
The problem is, the video — which was shared by the @FergSZN X account Monday — was a clip of Dallas’ training camp in 2023, when Prescott connected with then-Cowboys wideout Brandin Cooks.
The panel, which featured prominent NFL insider Adam Schefter, went about business as usual, while social media users called out the glaring error.
“All ESPN had to do was read the comments,” a user commented.
In the video posted by @FergSZN, Cooks was seen wearing a No. 3 jersey, the same number Pickens will don in his first season with the team.
Though that’s an honest mistake, within X’s features, it can be determined that the video was a repost.
The original footage was shared in July 2023 by Cowboys insider Kyle Youmans, who provided context on Prescott’s pass to Cooks.
“It’s actually mind blowing how many people fell for this,” @FergSZN wrote shortly after their initial post.
ESPN, widely regarded as conductors of the Cowboys’ hype train, soon recognized the error of its ways and issued an apology.
“Earlier, we showed video that we identified as George Pickens at Cowboys training camp — it was not George. So, we apologize on that mistake,” host Molly Qerim said later Tuesday.
The X user at the center of the video drama, who shared the Prescott-Cooks clip one day before training camp, could hardly believe the network’s apology.
“THEY JUST APOLOGIZED FOR SHOWING MY TWEET LMAO,” @FergSZN wrote.
The Cowboys, coming off a disappointing 7-10 campaign, are entering a new era under first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer.
Dallas opens the season on the road against Philadelphia on Sept 4.
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