After the violence in Charlottesville, which left one person dead, ESPN executives and Mr. Lee decided that for his safety it would be best to have him to work on a different game that Saturday, a network spokesman said.

“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name,” ESPN said in a statement. “In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.”

Mr. Lee did not return a call seeking comment. The website Outkick the Coverage reported on Mr. Lee’s removal on Tuesday afternoon.

Before the demonstrations in Charlottesville, ESPN had planned for Mr. Lee to be in the announcer’s booth for the Virginia Cavaliers’ first game of the season, against the College of William and Mary, which will be broadcast on the ACC Network. Mr. Lee will instead announce Youngstown State’s game against the University of Pittsburgh, which will appear on the same network.

Mr. Lee, whose full-time job is at a payroll services company in Albany, started announcing games for ESPN and its other networks last fall, according to his LinkedIn page. For the past 17 years, he has also announced men’s basketball games for Siena College in Albany. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1999 with a degree in broadcast journalism.