FOX Announcers Struggle With Nico Iamaleava’s Name, Act Caught on Live TV Nico Iamaleava may not have shown his full potential since his time with the Vols, but the recent struggle of FOX announcers i

Struggling to pronounce the surname of UCLA’s redshirt sophomore QB, Nico Iamaleava, is nothing new in CFB. Remember, when he was included on On3’s JD PicKell’s top 10 QBs in 2024, PicKell noted that broadcasters were spending a lot of time in the offseason learning how to pronounce his last name. But mispronouncing a player’s name naturally draws fan frustration. Now, during the Nebraska vs. UCLA game, this unwanted moment from a fan’s perspective was caught live on FOX.

When the game aired on live TV, play-by-play announcer Tim Brando and analyst Devin Gardner called the game from the booth. But they struggled to pronounce Nico Iamaleava’s name, saying something that sounded like “Nehemiah Leava,” while the Samoan last name is actually pronounced “ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va.”

At halftime, as