Temporary replacements happen all time over on TODAY, but to recently substitute Craig Melvin, the crew wanted an extra special guest host.

On Monday, July 20, the TODAY anchor was off from the show for a vacation, and in his place during 3rd Hour, rather than the usual NBC correspondent replacement, co-anchors Dylan Dreyer and Al Roker were joined by former soccer player Taylor Twellman.

"We decided we needed a really special guest," Al declared, teasing a "secret cabal" got together to vote on who should be that person, as Taylor quipped he must have been at the bottom of the list.

Taylor played professional soccer from 1999 to 2010, and now serves as Apple TV's lead analyst for Major League Soccer (MLS).

Over on the main hour of TODAY, Craig was replaced by Sheinelle Jones, who joined Savannah Guthrie; the latter is currently also working on filming a new Wordle show in London.