ESPN pulls Asian announcer Robert Lee off Virginia football game

ESPN has pulled an Asian play-by-play announcer from a Sept. 2 football game in Charlottesville, Va., simply because of his name.

Robert Lee was switched from calling the season opener between Virginia and William & Mary because he shares a name with Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who died in 1870. Lee, the one who is still alive, will instead call the game between Youngstown State and Pittsburgh at Pitt.

"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," ESPN said in a statement to Fox Sports Radio show "Outkick the Coverage."

"In that moment it felt right to all parties," the statement continued. "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."

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The late Confederate general has become the focus of controversy since white supremacists held a march in Charlottesville earlier this month. That Friday night march led to protests and counter-protests the next day, resulting a riot that led to the death of one woman and two police officers en route to the city.

Though racial tensions are certainly high in Charlottesville, thinking someone of Asian descent who is not at all related to a Confederate general who has been dead for nearly 150 years would offend someone is quite an overreaction.