Paul Finebaum Abruptly Ends Radio Segment After Falling Ill

There was a very strange moment during the Paul Finebaum Show on ESPN radio today. Right in the middle of a segment, host Paul Finebaum had to leave the set after apparently becoming sick.

In the clip above, Finebaum listlessly carries on a conversation with a fired-up caller, who points out that Finebaum is “not very talkative.” The caller keeps going as Finebaum breathes heavily into the mic and then eventually falls silent. “Stay with me, Paul, I’m trying to work with you,” the caller says. After a few more beats of awkward silence, Finebaum weakly informs the caller that the show is going to commercial.

After an extended commercial break, the show returned with Peter Burns sitting in Finebaum’s seat. Burns told listeners that Finebaum was fine, and joked that he had probably just eaten some “bad kale.”

Awful Announcing reached out to ESPN for comment on Finebaum’s condition. The network replied, “Paul is fine. He wasn’t feeling well. He went home for the day and is already feeling better.”

[ Awful Announcing]