The McAfee Moment
How the hottest name in sports media is navigating a new level of controversy
If I were to ask you who the hottest name in sports media is today, who would you say? What’s his vibe?
Is he more of a stander than a sitter? Does he wear more ten-gallon hats than shirts with sleeves? Was that a “Hell yeah, brother” I just heard?
Great. Then we’re thinking of the same guy. For better or worse, Pat McAfee is the man of the moment.
Me personally, I’d lean worse, but I should stress: if nothing else, you have to respect the grind. This guy is everywhere, and you have to acknowledge his talent.
He’s extremely charismatic, he brings a genuine base of knowledge to bear on football in particular, and he’s built a strong brand with a devoted following. Through it all, he’s scored a giant contract from ESPN without compromising much to fit their mold. He’s stayed him.
Admittedly, that’s also part of the problem. In the context of ESPN, he’s pretty incongruous. He’s unbuttoned — nay, unsleeved — to the point of disruptive, sort of like another combat sports alumnus whose name rhymes with Roe Jogan.
On the one hand, ESPN has something of a track record with a rogue commentator or two. They’ve been around long enough to employ some guys who’ve pushed the envelope, from Dan Le Batard to Bill Simmons, both of whom later struck out on their own to greater success.
But they’ve never had anybody quite like McAfee, and for a long time, that was probably purposeful. I’m not sure this metaphor works, but given his taste in hats, I’ll give it a go: you don’t try and saddle a wild mustang.
McAfee strikes me as a horse they’re not going to break. When the guy repeatedly assails one of the company’s executives, accusing him of trying to sabotage the show, it’s hard to shake that impression.
He Said What?
And yet! You wouldn’t know it from the reception to McAfee’s announcement this week that his regular guest, Aaron Rodgers, wouldn’t be back on the show for the rest of the NFL season.
I’ve always had some questions about that relationship. First, it’s a little dicey to pay a guest at all, and it’s especially dicey to pay that guest seven figures a year to come on your show.
It felt like what it was: a mutually beneficial megaphone for Rodgers to say whatever he felt like for an hour every Tuesday, while McAfee’s show got a ton of attention on that basis.
You can see where that could be an issue, if the guest in question is prone to going off-script. With a lot of people, you wouldn’t worry about that. Platform Peyton Manning all you want, as ESPN does without issue through the season.
Rodgers, however, poses some issues. If you’re just catching up, I’m not going to go through the whole beef, but the basics are this: two appearances ago, Rodgers said the following: “A lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, hope that [the Epstein list] doesn't come out.”
Many took that to be Rodgers insinuating Kimmel was a sex offender, which would — it’s safe to say — be quite the accusation. Those two have history, much of which stems from Kimmel criticizing Rodgers for what you might understatedly call Rodgers’ heterodox views on the COVID pandemic.
There’s plenty more there, so Google away if you’re so inclined. But coming back to McAfee, what’s doubly interesting here is the position that this has put him in. Here you have your most prominent guest coming on your ESPN show and attacking a prominent figure under the same parent company (as Disney also owns ABC, the network where Kimmel’s show airs).
Rodgers came on McAfee’s show one more time after that, just a few days ago, and it should come as little surprise that he didn’t do so to apologize. A few days after that, Rodgers was out.
McAfee said that was just because Rodgers’ season was over, although — counterpoint — his season’s been over since the first quarter of Week 1, and he’s come on the show as late as March in years past.
Convenient cover, I’d say. And McAfee’s statement on the matter seemed to confirm why he was doing it:
“I certainly don’t love that I’ve found myself in political wars and public beefs because of something that a guest has said on our show or something that my dumbass has said.. including a lawsuit that was VERY public.. but I think what I’ve come to realize is that it’s gonna come with the territory of this venture. We are much more aware of that now. And, for the good of our lives, happiness, and mana.. we’re gonna try and avoid as many as possible.”
I read this as a pretty reasonable explanation. I also wouldn’t want to deal with that. My sense is that McAfee genuinely likes Rodgers, he likes talking to Rodgers, and he and AJ Hawk — a world-class shit-stirrer in his own right — likes revving him up a little for the show. It’s shock jock stuff.
That said, it’s always a fascinating exercise to read something from your own perspective and see how differently it’s being received in other circles.
The comments section below McAfee’s statement is mayhem. There are a couple messages of solidarity in there, but most of those are from McAfee’s buddies who are literally on the show.
Apart from that, it’s a pro-Rodgers flamefest, and boy — it is rough. I wasn’t eager to repost most of these, but here’s the general vibe:
“I liked @PatMcAfeeShow because he was independent. He was brash. He was fearless. Now, he is just another corporate stooge.”
“It was despicable the way you threw Aaron Rodgers under the bus. You're an absolute coward.”
“I used to like your show
So… that oughta give you a sense.
It should also give you a sense of the layers here. It’s an oddly similar thing: ESPN has something of a rogue talent problem in McAfee, and then McAfee has much the same with respect to Rodgers.
McAfee could afford — with some degree of plausible deniability — to appear to be punishing Rodgers if that would placate the powers that be. But I’d figured they’d already smoothed things over in private.
And you know what the funniest part is? After all that, guess who was back on the show yesterday?
See, Pat McAfee is many things, but he’s not an ideologue. He’s not a sociopolitical subversive. He wants to talk sports. He brought Rodgers in to talk about Bill Belichick. That’s what he’s always been after.
The cynic in me also knows that McAfee courts Rodgers out of self-interest. When #12 is bringing viewers his way with an acceptable level of conspiracy theorizing, that drives interest, even if it’s outrage. When it crosses that threshold, it’s a headache. But he probably also knows that the occasional headache is still worth it for him.
With that all in mind, what I’m seeing as I watch this all play out is a relatively new media powerhouse starting to discover the extent, and a few responsibilities, of his power.
That power means two things: McAfee’s not going anywhere, and Rodgers isn’t either. I don’t think ESPN has any more of a ‘handle’ on McAfee than they did before, but hey. You tell me:
Also, This
Welp, that Washington pick didn’t go well. You got me there, Michigan. Mission now accomplished, though, I suspect it’s actually more likely that Harbaugh jumps ship now. Plenty of room on the NFL coaching carousel.
It’s been a week to make me feel old. Three of the biggest coaching figures of my lifetime are stepping back in some capacity: Nick Saban at Alabama, Pete Carroll in Seattle, and now Bill Belichick in New England. Happy trails to a trio of legends right there.
Another end to an era, as the 27-year deal between Tiger Woods and Nike comes to a close. Every iconic moment of his career came with a swoosh. After Michael Jordan, he’s probably the second-best brand ambassador the company’s ever had.
Super bummed to see Ja Morant’s season end, which of course was cut doubly short because he was suspended for the first 25 games of the season.
You’re forced to wonder if the time off helped or hurt matters, but you’re especially forced to wonder if a notoriously explosive/reckless dunker with a relatively slight frame might start to pick up more nicks like this as time goes on. I hope not, but the record books suggest he will. Small guards, man. Small guards.
Homer corner! I was pretty excited to see the Cardinals bring Chaim Bloom in this week. Always thought it was a little unfair that he ended up as the bag man with the Mookie trade, and between you and me, I’d feel a lot more comfortable with an heir apparent in the front office.