Kevin Harlan did not want the spotlight that came from his viral March Madness play-by-play call.
CBS Sports’ social media team shared a video of Harlan going bonkers for the absurd final sequence of the first-round NCAA Tournament game between Furman and Virginia when the Paladins hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to stun the No. 3 seeded Cavaliers 68-67.
The video has been viewed more than six million times.
Harlan appeared on the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast and acknowledged the tremendous efforts of CBS’ camera crew but professed to be “very uncomfortable” with being the center of attention.
“Kind of embarrassed by it,” Harlan said of all the attention he received, according to Awful Announcing.
“I’m not comfortable with it. I understand why CBS would want to use that, and I guess I trust my bosses more than I trust myself in this situation.
“At the same time, if they asked me my preference, I would have said, ‘Please don’t put that up there.’ And I still feel the same way.”
It has become somewhat common for video of play-by-play broadcasters to go viral after they call major moments — for example, WFAN has a camera on John Sterling — but Harlan said he did not realize cameras were recording him.
“It is 110 percent organic,” Harlan said.
“The last thing you’re thinking about is that a camera’s on you… I think I join a chorus of other announcers who do not like the camera.
“When it was first brought to our attention…in the NFL, I begged our producer, ‘Please, please, please never show this.’
“And because they never used any footage, I forgot about it. And I do think it is kind of peeking in back of the curtain, and I just think there are some things you just don’t want to see.”
Harlan said he has “voiced his concern” over the matter.
“You don’t want to see how hot dogs are made,” he said.
“It’s like if we put a camera on you if you’re writing one of your stories for The Athletic. This is kind of a personal space, and I have voiced my concern to both CBS and Turner.
“It’s one reason why [radio network] Westwood [One] doesn’t have anything in our booth. It didn’t even cross my mind.”