Danica Patrick 'crashes and burns' opening monologue at ESPY Awards

Danica Patrick hosted the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night, and it probably didn't go the way she had hoped. Many of her jokes were not well received by the audience in the room or on Twitter. In reference to last season's NFL players kneeling in protest, Patrick said, "It's time to talk about the national anthem controversy." She then revealed a picture of Fergie, who made headlines with her national anthem performance at the NBA All-Star game. While the joke was fairly innocuous, Philadelphia Eagle defensive end Chris Long had a reaction that was not. In fact, Long's shocked reaction became a meme on social media. Upon seeing his reaction on Twitter, Long had a "would/wouldn't" moment and tweeted, "For the record geniuses I was talking about Fergie." Speaking of NFL players, Dan Marino also became a meme after his flat reaction to Patrick's joke, "Villanova won their second national championship in three years, which is really amazing and surprising because catholic schools usually forbid students from going all the way." Even though the night was supposed to just be about the athletes, some viewers felt the Patrick deserved a little recognition. Sure the monologue had some rough patches, but Patrick stuck with it. And while she was throwing shade at the athletes, made herself the butt of a joke or two. In one joke about Tiger Woods, she said, "Why do people keep talking about this guy when he isn't winning? Who does he think he is... me?"