\n<\/p>\n
\t\t<\/p>\n NBC Sports\u2019 Mike Tirico<\/strong><\/a> is explaining his sudden absence from the Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n The 58-year-old sportscaster \u2013 who you may recognize from his commentating with Sunday Night Football<\/em> each NFL season \u2013 was supposed to be on-air during the Derby this weekend, but abruptly left and was replaced by Ahmed Fareed<\/strong> live on the air.<\/p>\n Ahmed <\/strong>simply told viewers, \u201cI am Ahmed Fareed<\/strong>. Mike<\/strong>, as you may have heard, is feeling under the weather right now so I\u2019m going to step in, take over for a bit.\u201d Mike <\/strong>never returned.<\/p>\n On Monday (May 5), Mike <\/strong>ended up appearing virtually on the Today <\/em>show to explain he had a severe allergic reaction to a nut and had to take an EpiPen.<\/p>\n Keep reading to find out more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI ate something that had a nut in it and had a nut allergy, causing your throat and your nose all that stuff to kind of clog up and swell. It affects your breathing a little bit, so [I] wasn\u2019t feeling well, couldn\u2019t go on with the show, took an EpiPen shot, got treated by EMTs, felt better about 8, 9 o\u2019clock came along, but it takes a long while to get out of your system,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a real thing. My son has it. Lots of us know someone who has a food allergy, so read labels \u2014 and I do, as often as possible, to check. Sometimes it will say, \u2018Made in a factory where nuts are present.\u2019 You have to be really careful about that stuff,\u201d Mike <\/strong>said.<\/p>\n EpiPen shots are an auto-injectable that delivers a drug known as epinephrine, which is usually given when patients are in anaphylaxis. <\/p>\n