Announcer Apologizes After On-Air 'Choke' Threat

Former United States men’s soccer player Oguchi Onyewu immediately apologized after he threatened to "choke" his female co-host during CBS Sports broadcast of the USMNT vs Mexico game.

Onyewu and women's national team defender Janelly Farias were engaged in conversation early in the broadcast when Onyewu jokingly said to Farias, “I will come across this desk and choke you.”

The moment was awkward and Onyewu apologized for his words.

“Early in the show, you know, throughout our banter back and forth, I got carried away for sure. And I said a stupid thing that should’ve never come out of my mouth,” Onyewu said to Farias, who was sitting alongside him. “And I am deeply sorry for it and I apologize to you and I hope that you can forgive me and don’t take any offense to it. So, I just really want to sincerely apologize for what I said.”

Oguchi Onyewu apologizes on-air for pregame trash talk segment that included saying he'd "come across the table and choke" Janelly Farias pic.twitter.com/zbrKMms5aJ

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 7, 2021

Farias accepted the apology with grace, leaning into a fist bump with Onyewu.

“I think the fact that you can say that on national television speaks volumes of you,” she said.

Here was the “I will come across the desk and choke you” comment pic.twitter.com/t884CAr51F

— Corey (@coreyzinho) June 7, 2021