Awkward ‘MNF’ debut makes ESPN’s Sergio Dipp an online star

DENVER (AP) – ESPN sideline reporter Sergio Dipp has become an unlikely star of “Monday Night Football” thanks to an awkward debut.

Play-by-play commentator Beth Mowins, who became the first woman to call an NFL regular season game since 1987, went to Dipp for a report on new Denver Broncos coach Vance Joseph during the first quarter of the Chargers-Broncos “Monday Night Football” nightcap.

Dipp hesitated and finally gave some scant details about Joseph’s background and emphatically stating the coach was having “the time of his life.” It turned out to be Dipp’s only report of the night, but it instantly made him a trending topic online.

The 29-year-old Mexican-born Dipp has been with ESPN since 2013, but has reported mostly for the Spanish-language ESPN Deportes.

He gave an emotional statement in a Twitter video Tuesday, stating that he hopes to “have another chance.”