Carolina Panthers EVP of football operations Brandt Tilis met the media on Tuesday to discuss the status of his roster and draft plans.
Along the way, he was treated to a promo for FanDuel as a treat.
A little over halfway through the presser, a Panthers rep called on 99.9 The Fan and WRAL radio host Dennis Cox to ask a question, presumably unmuting him. Unfortunately for him, instead of his question, the live radio station feed came through right in the middle of an ad read for FanDuel.
I’ve never seen this happen in a presser 😅 pic.twitter.com/qCqyANSF1n
— Michael Bell (@avl_mike) March 24, 2026
Tilis was understandably confused at first, but as the promo continued, he could only laugh. It got even more comical when the ad kept cutting back in despite what appeared to be efforts by the PR reps to move on.
“Is this normal?” asked a smiling Tilis.
Eventually, the feed was cut, and the press conference continued with more questions about the football team.
For his part, Cox took to social media to offer an apology and explanation.
🤣🤣🤣 That’s on me! Mic feed was coming through wrong. Props to Tillis for locking back in after this.
— Dennis Cox (@TheFanRookie) March 24, 2026
And of course, Cox took some guff from his co-workers over the snafu.
It’s 2026 and @TheFanRookie has made a strong case to earn a new entry into the zoom mishap Hall of Fame. https://t.co/uuJxVhm69B
— Pat Welter WRAL (@PatrickWelter) March 24, 2026
The radio host added that someone ended up asking the question he’d intended to ask, so all’s well that ends well, especially for the folks at FanDuel.