ESPN is making it repeatedly clear how much it loves and appreciates Pat McAfee.
McAfee has his own daily show streaming on ESPN’s main channel every weekday. He’s part of “College GameDay” and “Monday Night Countdown,” too, with potentially more coming in the future. He’ll have his own Super Bowl 61 broadcast, as well.
It’s clear that ESPN’s executives are massive fans of the former NFL punter turned sports media mogul.
On Tuesday, ESPN executive Mike Foss added to the network’s constant bragging, claiming that he’s more of a “journalist” than anything.
© Michael Longo / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.
“He is, he might be a journalist at heart,” Foss said while speaking with Front Office Sports this week. “I think what you find is he puts the show together each day and something piques his interest, he’s got the rolodex. He’s able to navigate waters and has built access that a lot of people don’t have the ability to do. So when he needs to get information, whether it’s on the show or off, he’s able to grab it really quickly.
“I think he’s underrated as an interviewer. I also think it’s interesting, he’s almost like a Rorschach test in terms of what he is. He’s not just a talent. He’s a producer. He’s an interviewer. He’s an actor. I find it fascinating to see what other people’s definitions are of him, because I think it actually says more about them than him.”
Sport fans, though, are pushing back.
Sports fans are pushing back on ESPN’s bragging
Longtime NFL reporter Jason La Canfora shared: “Gutting their operation of real journalists isn’t enough at Bristol. They want to gaslight you and devalue everything it is actual journalists do while they prop up a wind-up chimp who bangs his cymbols together in a way that pleases their warped ears.”
NFL reporter Arif Hasan added: “Really fascinated by what the journalists at ESPN might have to say about this characterization!”
Charles P. Pierce wrote: “No, he isn’t.”
Sam Monson wrote: “Wasn’t going to comment on this but it came up on today’s show so I may as well reiterate: No, he’s not. McAfee is an entertainer at heart, and he’s a good one. This executive has a degree in communications, not journalism. He’s praising McAfee for half of what being a journalist is about – the communications half – and ignoring the other half that actually makes somebody a journalist.”
One fan added: “That’s the funniest thing I’ve read in a while!”
Ultimately, though, while fans and media members might take issue with ESPN’s bragging, he’s clearly not going away.
