ESPN Totally Botched Their Lineup Graphic With The Most Embarrassing Error During Steelers-Texans ‘MNF’ Playoff Game [PHOTO]
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Houston Texans veteran safety Jimmie Ward has missed every game this year. That includes tonight’s heated playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But, don’t tell that to the graphics team at ESPN. Clearly, the department didn’t research to see that Jimmie Ward hasn’t played a game since Dec. 21, 2024.
DeMeco Ryans’ squad traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers in the final game of the 2025 Wild Card Round. As always, the Worldwide Leader in Sports shared graphics of each club’s starters.
Just one issue: Jimmie Ward was listed as a starter. He has been sidelined for over a year due to a foot injury.
ESPN has Jimmie Ward starting at safety for the Houston Texans tonight.
He’s definitely not. He hasn’t even been active for a game this season (the Reserve/PUP list, plus legal issues). #NFL #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/5su2FnZJSo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 13, 2026
FS1’s Emmanuel Acho called them out, too:
Texans fans, hell NFL fans, let me know when you see what’s wrong with this @espn graphic on the Texans starting defense.
How the hell do you make this mistake in the playoffs???? pic.twitter.com/xFa6qYlYDy
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) January 13, 2026
Jimmie Ward was arrested twice in the offseason, complicating a potential return to the NFL. He was arrested in June on a family-related felony assault charge, per NBC News. Two months later, he was arrested for drunk driving.
Ward spent his first 11 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before signing with Houston in 2023. In 126 career games, he has 10 picks, 51 pass breakups, six forced fumbles and 549 combined tackles.
If Houston wins this game, ESPN should make it a priority to remove Ward from their graphics team to avoid a similar mistake in the future.
