In the latest development of the Kyren Lacy case, ESPN hosts Ryan Clark and Scott Van Pelt have walked back their previous comments regarding the former LSU wide receiver and his alleged role in a fatal car crash in December.
During the Thursday, October 9, episode of ESPN’s First Take, Clark apologized for comments he made during the Monday Night Football broadcast, in which he proclaimed Lacy’s innocence.
“In full transparency y’all, I knew Kyren Lacy personally. But nothing matters to me more than the truth,” Clark said on Thursday. “I always strive to do my best to mix authenticity with the most complete and up-to-date information available. I failed to do that on Monday night based on the subsequent evidence that has been released by the Louisiana State Police Department.”
He continued, “I set the highest standards of fairness, and most importantly, righteousness in my work. I didn’t meet that standard.”
Louisiana State Police maintain that former Louisiana State University football star Kyren Lacy was responsible for triggering a fatal car crash last year. Authorities released new video on Tuesday, October 7, alleging that Lacy’s erratic driving in his green Dodge Charger was ultimately responsible for the death of 78-year-old Herman Hall in December 2024. (The […]
On Friday, October 3 – three days before Clark made his original comments on Monday Night Football – Lacy’s lawyer presented security camera footage from a nearby gas station that seemed to contradict the alleged circumstances of the December crash.
At the time of the accident, Louisiana State Police believed Lacy caused the crash that killed 78-year-old Herman Hall, but the new evidence called the alleged circumstances into question.
“Kyren Lacy was supposed to be in the NFL,” Clark said on the Monday Night Football broadcast. “Kyren Lacy was accused of something and investigated for something he didn’t do, and he died having to live with the guilt and the consequences of a guilty man, knowing he was innocent.
The host continued, “Recently it was discovered that he was 72 yards away from the crash. That police and state policemen tried to coerce and doctor and use ways to manipulate statements that put this young man behind bars. … Kyren Lacy was innocent. Kyren Lacy should be here with us. Nothing will every repair or replace the pain that his parents have to feel and his loved ones have to feel.”
Since the new evidence from Lacy’s lawyer came to light, police maintained that Lacy was responsible for the accident, releasing a new video on Tuesday, October 7, that allegedly showed Lacy driving erratically and ultimately causing the accident. This new evidence prompted Clark’s apology on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Van Pelt walked back statements he made on the same Monday Night Football broadcast with Clark.
“The one certainty here is that this was a senseless tragedy in December and it’s magnified by a second life lost in April,” Van Pelt said on Thursday’s episode of SportsCenter. “I apologize for the incomplete reaction that aired on this show on Monday night.”
Back in April, months after the original accident, Lacy, 24, was involved in a police chase in Houston that lasted “several miles” and resulted in a crash. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office claimed that Lacy refused to stop for an officer and was subsequently chased. When authorities reached his vehicle after the crash, it was revealed that Lacy had died by suicide.
His death came one day before he was scheduled to appear in front of a grand jury in Houston on charges of negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death and reckless operation of a vehicle in connection to the incident in December.