Robert Lee lost something in Virginia, and 152 years later, another Robert Lee did too.
The living Robert Lee, an ESPN sports broadcaster, was pulled from calling the University of Virginia home opener against William and Mary on Sept. 2 due to sharing a name with the Confederate general at the center of unrest in Charlottesville.
"We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name," Derek Volner, an ESPN spokesman, told The Washington Post in an emailed statement.
"In that moment it felt right to all parties. It's a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue," he said.
Volner declined to say if the network made a preemptive decision or responded to outside pressure to pull Lee from the broadcast. He also did not say if Lee was made available for comment. Lee, a sportscaster for 20 years, began his career calling games at Syracuse University, his alma mater. He is bilingual and speaks Mandarin Chinese, according to his online resume.
