ESPN recently wrapped up their 28-hour fantasy football marathon which included plenty of talk about the best PPR and Non-PPR players, dynasty leagues, sleepers, potential busts, and overall draft strategy.
The 28-hour fantasy football marathon also included a mock auction draft which featured a group of predominately white males bidding on NFL stars, such as New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
In the auction draft, an auctioneer held a stick with a player's face on it to show the crowd who was up for bid. While auction drafts are a common part of fantasy football, critics argued that ESPN's coverage created the imagery of a slave auction.
Screenshots of the auction were shared throughout social media during ESPN's fantasy football marathon, including a shot of Odell Beckham Jr. who was apparently left speechless by what he saw.
According to USA Today's A.J. Perez, ESPN release a statement apologizing for the draft which read,
"Auction drafts are a common part of fantasy football, and ESPN's segments replicated an auction draft with a diverse slate of top professional football players. Without that context, we understand the optics could be portrayed as offensive, and we apologize."
You can check out a clip from the ESPN auction draft sketch below, as well as Kevin Durant's thoughts on the matter.
