Mike Tirico's replacement at Kentucky Derby details moment legendary announcer fell ill
By ALEX RASKIN
NBC Sports anchor Ahmed Fareed was starting to feel like the Maytag repairman while serving as Mike Tirico's understudy at last weekend's Kentucky Derby.
He knew he'd be handling USA's pre-race coverage before giving way to the NBC Sports announcer for the main network broadcast. What he never anticipated was taking Tirico's seat at the 151st Run for the Roses.
But as Fareed told Awful Announcing, the announcer he described as a 'machine' wasn't looking so hot on Saturday.
'I get done [with early Kentucky Derby coverage on USA] at 2:30,' Fareed said. 'I un-mic. I take my IFB [earpiece] out. I'm getting out of that studio…and I see Mike and he stops me. And I can tell he doesn't look quite the same, I think his eyes were watering a little bit, and he says, ''Hey, I'm not feeling great. You might have to take over for me.'' Which is a shock because Mike is a machine.'
Fareed did not know at the time that Tirico was dealing with his lifelong nut allergy.
'And so even at that point I'm like, ''Okay, he's not feeling well, but there's no way that Mike's not going to be able to power through this.'' Which he tried to do for the first 30-45 minutes of his shift. But then I think he just kept feeling worse and worse, and they got in my ear I think around 3:15, and they said, ''Ahmed, you gotta come back and host the show.''
Ahmed Fareed was a last-minute substitution for NBC Sports' broadcast at Churchill Downs
Mike Tirico was forced to step away from NBC's coverage of the Kentucky Derby due to illness
'And so at that point, I got back there as fast as I could. I tried not to run and be out of breath when I got there, but moved as quickly as possible, and then I sat down at 3:15 and [NBC Sports executive producer] Sam Flood was there and he said, ''Hey, you're going to be on til 5:00, we know that for sure. So settle in here, we'll give you an update after that.''
'And while I was in there, Mike was still in the room and there were people around him,' Fareed continued. 'He was sitting down. But what Mike did, though, is I sat down, he got up, and I know he had not been feeling well at all.'
Fareed had to quickly learn about the preliminary races, which he hadn't prepared for heading into Saturday's event.
He now credits NBC Sports researchers John Furlong and Brandon Glass with helping catch him up to speed in the critical moments before going on air.
'Once I sat down, of course you're worried about the well-being of Mike,' Fareed continued. 'I knew it was serious enough where he couldn't do the show, which meant it was pretty serious. But I didn't know the severity of it.'
'It's in the back of my mind always at these events: ''Okay, if something were to happen with Mike and he couldn't do the show for whatever reason, I might have to do it,''' Fareed said. 'But I never really think, especially with Mike, that it's going to happen.'
And just how scary was it to speak to 21 million people at a moment's notice?
'Yes, it'd be a lie to say it didn't cross my mind,' he said. 'But, and I don't know what it is, if it's just when you're sitting there and you're looking at your analysts, and it's the TV crew, and nothing looks different whether the show is broadcast to 21 million people or 20,000 people. For me, for whatever reason, it's easy just to be in the moment, and this is my job to do a TV show regardless of how many people are watching it.'
Ahmed Fareed of NBC Sports speaks at Big Ten media day at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2023
Tirico posted on social media a 'significant reaction to my nut allergy' forced him to step away
Fans were concerned for the 58-year-old Tirico when he was suddenly replaced about an hour into the broadcast.
But speaking to the TODAY show on Monday, Tirico said he now feels 'fine' while going into detail about his allergic reaction.
'I ate something that had a nut in it and had a nut allergy, causing your throat and your nose all that stuff to kind of clog up and swell,' he said.
'It affects your breathing a little bit, so [I] wasn't feeling well, couldn't go on with the show, took an EpiPen shot, got treated by EMTs, felt better about 8, 9 o'clock came along, but it takes a long while to get out of your system.'
Tirico said he was 'embarrassed' by the attention his allergic reaction had gotten, adding that he is usually more careful about what he eats after battling the nut allergy his entire life.
'It's a real thing,' he said.
'My son has it. Lots of us know someone who has a food allergy, so read labels - and I do, as often as possible, to check. Sometimes it will say, 'Made in a factory where nuts are present.' You have to be really careful about that stuff.'
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