Marcello Hernandez Roasts Sports’ Biggest Stars at ESPYS

Marcello Hernandez Opens Big, Then Brings The Room Home

Cutie patootie Marcello Hernandez was host with thee most at the 2026 ESPYS, stepping into the New York spotlight with sports jokes, immigrant-family pride and the kind of quick correction only a comedian protecting a very important inch of height would make.

The announcer initially introduced him as standing 5-foot-7. Hernandez stopped the entrance music before it could properly begin, demanded a correction to 5-foot-8 and had the whole introduction restarted. Only then could the “first-time and therefore undefeated ESPYS host” enter the arena.

From there, the Saturday Night Live breakout moved fast. He joked that the ESPYS is the only awards show where none of the nominees were bullied in high school, saluted former host Shane Gillis as a man watching from his couch while “a Hispanic guy does his job,” and described landing the gig as an American-dream moment for the child of immigrants.

One of the night’s warmest moments came when Hernandez told the story of his mother arriving in the United States alone at 20, working as a nanny, living in an efficiency and putting herself through college by working during the day and attending classes at night. She was pregnant with him at graduation. Hernandez joked that since he had heard the story every day of his life, the entire ESPYS audience could hear it once too.

He then spotted Stephen Curry in the room and asked the NBA star to prove he was one of the greats by getting up and giving Hernandez’s mother a hug. Curry obliged, giving the monologue a genuinely affectionate beat before Hernandez pivoted straight back into material about immigrant athletes making sports better—because, as he put it, sports without immigrants would mostly be cornhole.

The room was not safe for long. Hernandez welcomed “so many incredible athletes and Jake Paul,” then reassured Paul that it was only a joke before redirecting him toward Hernandez’s father and stepfather—both over 50, and therefore, according to the comic, much closer to Paul’s preferred competition.

Back in New York, Hernandez congratulated the Knicks, turned their long championship drought into a time capsule and used 1973 to set up jokes about helmetless hockey players, basketball before the three-point line and Bill Belichick’s dating life. He then moved into the World Cup, describing it as the event that reminds American fans that “world” means more than the United States plus one team from Toronto.

Some of the sharpest material belonged to the World Cup visitors. Hernandez welcomed Europeans to the land of ranch dressing and watched their famous dietary discipline collapse in real time. His basic argument: after centuries of calling Americans fat, they were now carrying ranch home in their luggage and preparing to discover that a European medium no longer fit.

Marcello Hernandez Works The Entire Sports World

The gallery catches Hernandez moving from hockey and football to family, immigration and the full ESPYS room.

Marcello Hernandez opens the 2026 ESPYS with sports roasts, physical comedy and family pride. Images via ESPN.

Hernandez’s hockey section deserves its own replay. He congratulated both U.S. Olympic hockey teams, then admitted that his favorite part of the sport is watching the referee. In his telling, hockey officials may look very white, but they move Latino—skating backward with maximum drama before sending a player to a two-minute timeout that, to a Latino family, does not sound nearly severe enough to prevent repeat behavior.

The football and basketball jokes kept coming. Caleb Williams received congratulations for landing the Madden cover; Tiger Woods was reassigned to the cover of Grand Theft Auto. Hernandez praised the WNBA’s new money before imagining a reality series called Basketball Husbands and Wives—but, he added, mostly wives.

He also turned the wave of famous sports sons—Bronny James, Shedeur Sanders and Jalen Brunson—into a nepotism joke that landed directly in front of Rick Brunson. Hernandez noticed the coach bracing for impact and acknowledged the look before moving on, one more example of him reading the room without taking his foot off the gas.

The monologue finally circled back to family. Hernandez remembered his uncle Pepito, who introduced him to sports and had died exactly one year earlier. As a child, Hernandez believed their postgame races to the car were pure fun. Only later did he realize his uncle was sprinting because he had never paid for parking.

He joked that Pepito’s devotion to the Florida Marlins may ultimately have killed him, then softened the room again by dedicating the show to him—and to the coaches, parents, volunteer officials and everyday people who make sports possible. Hernandez entered arguing over an inch. He ended by giving the night a heart.

Watch Marcello Hernandez’s Full 2026 ESPYS Opening Monologue

The complete monologue includes Hernandez’s corrected entrance, Stephen Curry’s visit with his mother, World Cup ranch dressing, hockey-ref choreography and the dedication to Uncle Pepito.

Source: Official ESPN YouTube; 2026 ESPYS broadcast.