PHOENIX, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 09: Former NFL player and host Pat McAfee speaks on radio row ahead of Super Bowl LVII on the Phoenix Convention Center on February 9, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Mike Lawrie | Getty Images
ESPN’s Pat McAfee problem is getting more complicated.
On Friday, the host and former NFL punter publicly attacked longtime ESPN executive Norby Williamson, accusing him of “actively attempting to sabotage” him by leaking information to reporters.
The Recent York Post reported on McAfee’s relatively low rankings Thursday, noting, “Because the inception of McAfee’s show on ESPN in the autumn, Stephen A. Smith and ‘First Take’ are handing McAfee a 583,000 viewer lead-in, and McAfee is maintaining just 302,000, which is a 48% drop.”
McAfee implied Williamson can have leaked the thought for the story to Recent York Post reporter Andrew Marchand. Marchand declined to comment.
“I think Norby Williamson is the guy who’s attempting to sabotage our program,” McAfee said. “I’m not 100% sure. That’s just seemingly the one human that has information after which someway that information gets leaked, and it’s flawed.”
McAfee didn’t specifically say what information was flawed. Through the years, other ESPN talent have speculated that Williamson has leaked private details, including contract information, in accordance with people aware of the matter. On Friday, former ESPN journalist Jemele Hill posted on social media platform X “I can relate” with regard to McAfee’s comments about Williamson.
There is no evidence Williamson has leaked information. Williamson, who has worked for ESPN for nearly 40 years, declined to comment through an ESPN spokesperson.
There’s also a contingent of ESPN employees who’ve grumbled about McAfee’s show and his large contract. McAfee signed a five-year, $85 million contract with ESPN in May.
ESPN management values the importance of McAfee and Williamson and is looking into why McAfee denigrated an executive, in accordance with an individual aware of the matter. There is no such thing as a planned suspension for McAfee, and ESPN hopes to seek out a path forward for each Williamson and McAfee, in accordance with an individual aware of the matter.
“Nobody is more committed to and invested in ESPN’s success than Norby Williamson,” an ESPN spokesperson said. “At the identical time, we’re thrilled with the multi-platform success that now we have seen from the Pat McAfee Show across ESPN. We are going to handle this matter internally and don’t have any further comment.”
Earlier this week, McAfee found himself in hot water for providing a platform for Recent York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to disparage a fellow Disney worker. Rodgers, a frequent guest on McAfee’s show, incorrectly suggested ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel could be included in court documents related to late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. Kimmel fired back Tuesday, tweeting Rodgers’ “reckless words put [his] family in peril.”
McAfee later apologized over the Kimmel comments.
“I could see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way in which he felt, especially together with his position,” McAfee said Wednesday, noting that Rodgers “did go too far.”
ESPN on Friday also addressed Rodgers’ comments about Kimmel.
“Aaron made a dumb and factually inaccurate joke about Jimmy Kimmel. It should never have happened. All of us realized that within the moment,” ESPN executive Mike Foss told Front Office Sports.
The Recent York Post previously reported that McAfee has paid Rodgers “hundreds of thousands” to seem on his show. The previous MVP and Super Bowl champion, who has made a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of dollars within the NFL, joined the Jets last yr after playing for over a decade with the Green Bay Packers. He missed the season with an Achilles tendon injury.
A representative for Rodgers didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
