Mike Tirico believes the full context of his “asterisk” remarks that agitated Lions fans should be considered.
As the Lions were closing off their upset win over the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night, Tirico opined that the 21-20 victory had an asterisk.
The Chiefs were missing star tight end Travis Kelce because of a bone bruise on his knee and pass rusher Chris Jones, who is in the midst of a contract dispute.
Tirico, who lives outside Detroit, spoke to the Detroit News about the visceral reaction from Lions fans who felt their team’s accomplishment was slighted by the NBC play-by-play broadcaster.
“If you have a problem with the word ‘asterisk,’ that’s a very legitimate complaint,” Tirico told the outlet on Friday.
“However, it should be in context. If you want to take out the middle of the comment and make it the whole comment, then you don’t understand properly how to attribute things.”
Tirico argued that he actually did give the Lions their flowers.
“We saw the Chiefs go into Foxborough in 2016 [editor’s note: it was 2017] and win on Opening Night, and that announced to everyone that the Kansas City Chiefs were going to be a factor,” Tirico said at the end of the game on “Thursday Night Football.”
“This has an asterisk because of no Chris Jones and no Travis Kelce, but after what you saw at the end of last year and what you saw tonight, the team in blue and silver is for real.”
The thoughts of Lions fans could be summarized by what longtime sports internet personality WorldofIsaac tweeted before the game against the Chiefs even kicked off.
“If the Lions manage to beat the Chiefs without Travis Kelce, great. Injuries are a major part of the NFL. It happens. I won’t feel bad or apologize for the W. Neither should any Lions fan,” Isaac wrote.
After the game, he had a succinct message: “F–k your asterisk takes.”