Bob Costas Calls ESPN Giving Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Caitlyn Jenner a "Crass Exploitation Play"

Bob Costas doesn't agree with Caitlyn Jenner getting an ESPY.

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When ESPN revealed that they're going to give Caitlyn Jenner the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards next month, there were some people who openly disagreed with The Worldwide Leader's decision to do it. In fact, there are still quite a few people raising hell about it on Twitter today and sending out tweets like these:

1.

So during an interview earlier this week, Dan Patrick asked Bob Costas to give his opinion on it. Costas was very careful not to disrespect Jenner on a personal level. But he called ESPN giving her an award a "crass exploitation play" and said that he thinks ESPN could have found someone better for the award this year.

"I wish Caitlyn all the happiness in the world and all the peace of mind in the world," he said. "However, it strikes me that awarding the Arthur Ashe Award to Caitlyn Jenner is just a crass exploitation play. It's a tabloid play. In the broad world of sports, I'm pretty sure they could have found—and this is not anything against Caitlyn Jenner—I'm pretty sure they could have found someone who was much closer to actively involved in sports, who would have been deserving of what that award represents."

Basically, Costas believes ESPN is only giving Jenner the award to drum up interest in the show this year.

"I think this is a play to pump up the audience," he said, "the way lots of things are put on television, to attract eyeballs, not because of the validity, but because of whatever the kind of gawker factor is."

You can listen to Costas make his comments at the eight-minute mark in the clip above. Do you agree with his take?

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[via Next Impulse Sports]

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