Sports host Pat McAfee’s future at ESPN seems to be on everyone’s mind after the former NFL player’s weekly guest, Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, suggested late-night host Jimmy Kimmel could be on the client list of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Kimmel obviously hit back and McAfee apologized, then claimed an ESPN executive was “attempting to sabotage” his show. Rodgers responded by claiming he didn’t say Kimmel was a pedophile, after which McAfee announced on his show on January 10 that “‘Aaron Rodgers’ Tuesday Season 4 is done” and he personally was “happy about it.”
So, what happens now for the man ESPN has called “one of the most successful voices in sport media” after he joined the network in September of 2023?
Burke Magnus, president of content at ESPN, has been a vocal supporter of McAfee and said at launch of his show, “We can’t wait for Pat and his team to bring a fresh new energy to ESPN’s weekday lineup, led by some of the most prominent, creative and authentic voices in sports.”
“The Pat McAfee Show will redefine what success looks like across multiple ESPN platforms and will bring a new, contemporary audience to our afternoon time block,” he added. “It’s a perfect fit.”
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For those unfamiliar with McAfee, he is a former NFL punter who was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 2009. He played in the league for 9 seasons and was named All-Pro in 2014, and a Pro Bowler in 2014 and 2016. He was nominated to the NFL Hall of fame in 2022 after retiring from the league in 2016, according to ESPN.
Everyday, fans of the show are treated to a slew of former and current football stars, including co-host former NFL linebacker A.J. Hawk, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers (Tuesdays), former NFL defensive end J.J. Watt (Wednesdays) and now-retired Alabama football head coach Nick Saban (Thursdays), just to name a few.
In addition to hosting his show, McAfee provides college football analysis on ESPN’s College GameDay and other ESPN college football telecasts.
An ESPN press release dated Jan. 5 highlights the massive success his show has had since coming over to the sports network, bringing in “1.7 million total reach per show across all platforms in month of December – up 21% from September.” It has also had an average in December of 886,000 viewers per episode during the live airings across all platforms.
“It’s been a wild ride this season with ESPN,” McAfee said in the release. “We’ve had the phenomenal opportunity to do what we love on a scale that we’ve never done before. Day to day it certainly feels like a lot of folks are watching our program, but I genuinely try not to focus on numbers too much because you’re only as good as your last show.”
“So many cool moments happened this year because of our relationship with ESPN,” the sports host said.
Mike Foss, ESPN’s senior vice president of studio and digital production, said, “Pat and the boys have grown their audience every month since joining ESPN and have been an incredible addition. The first three months have been a tremendous success across every platform regardless of how you add it up.”
So with McAfee bringing millions to the network, it is not surprising that they would want to hold on to him despite the turmoil caused by Rodgers regarding Kimmel.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that [client list] doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said on the show. “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle.”
In response, late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel threatened to sue the Jets QB, writing on X, in part, “Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
The late-night host later mocked Rodgers on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and said Rodgers is allowed to have his own opinion, but added a caveat: “Saying someone is a pedophile is not an opinion, nor is it trash talk,” because “the truth still matters.”
The following day McAfee apologized for Rodgers’ comments and suggested Rodgers “was just trying to talk s***,” The Athletic noted.
“We obviously don’t like the fact that we are associated with anything negative, ever…So we apologize for being a part of it,” he added. “Can’t wait to hear what Aaron has to say about it. Hopefully, those two will just be able to settle this, not court-wise. But be able to chit-chat and move along.”
Days later, McAfee appeared to make the drama bigger and claimed that top ESPN executive, Norby Williamson, was “attempting to sabotage” his show. He also accused the executive of leaking information that “sets a narrative of what our show is.”
Williamson oversees NFL and college football, along with “SportsCenter,” audio, the SEC Network, MLB, NHL, combat, golf, tennis and investigative journalism, The Athletic noted. As previously noted, Magnus — who is Williamson’s supervisor — is a huge supporter of McAfee.
McAfee addressed the issue and said, “There was some comments about a particular person at ESPN that I made only on the YouTube and ESPN+ show. That wasn’t even on linear TV. I didn’t know anybody was going to hear it because it was just on digital.”
The sports host said after his comments made headlines, he was “super bummed out” Magnus “was made to look bad because of what I did and how I did it.”
“I would like everybody to know — we love Burke Magnus,” the NFL player said. “And also love Jimmy Pitaro. Love [Disney CEO] Bob Iger.”
“But there’s quite a transition era here between the old and the new,” he added. “And the old don’t like what the newbies do.” He added that he wasn’t “trying to get fired” as some speculated.
“There’s certainly people that we don’t like and they do not like us,” McAfee continued. “That’s how it’s going to be and I don’t take back anything I said about said person. But the overall storyline about us and ESPN, I think people need to remember, is that we’re strong, baby. And we all understand what the future looks like, there’s just some old hags that potentially don’t.”
ESPN then released a statement that the matter would be handled “internally,” Deadline noted. On Tuesday Jan 10. on McAfee’s show, Rodgers responded to Kimmel and said he didn’t think Kimmel was a pedophile.
“I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be,” Rodgers said. “So for him to be upset about that, I get it.”
“I’m not stupid enough, even though you think I’m an idiot and you’ve made a lot of comments about my intelligence, but I’m not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero concrete evidence,” he added. “That’s ridiculous.”
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During McAfee’s Show the next day he announced that Rodgers wouldn’t be coming on the show every Tuesday anymore, and that he was happy about the break.
“There could be a lot of people that are happy with that,” the former NFL player said. “Myself included, to be honest with you. The way it ended, it got real loud, real loud. I’m happy that is not going to be my mentions going forward, which is great news.”
McAfee also said he was ready to move on from this situation.
“Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Famer,” the sports host said. “He’s a four-time MVP. He’s a massive piece of the NFL story whenever you go back and tell it. He will be a huge part of it. We are very lucky to get a chance to chat with him and learn from him. Some of his thoughts and opinions do piss off a lot of people. I’m pumped that that is no longer every single Wednesday of my life, which it has been for the last few weeks.”
“On Friday I obviously threw us into the fire as well,” he added. “I forever stand by that. Everything else, though, just can’t do that and not what we want to be known for.”
But just a few days after he made headlines with the announcement that Rodgers was done on the show, the quarterback was back on the show, an apparent message to those who assumed he had canceled Rodgers. He invited the Jets QB on the show to talk about Bill Belichick retiring from the New England Patriots after 24 years, given Rodgers was the last person to talk to him on the field after the regular season finale.
They talked about Belichick’s NFL history and McAfee made it clear he had not “turned his back on Aaron Rodgers,” explaining that the break from his friend’s appearances on the show was because “Rodgers has an offseason too.”
So, what happens next is anyone’s guess. It appears that both sides are standing down for now, as The Athletic noted.