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Pat McAfee seems to be ruffling some feathers at ESPN.
Earlier this year, McAfee signed a massive 5-year $85 million contract to take his show from YouTube to WorldWide Leader in Sports.
During his brief time at ESPN, McAfee has already stirred up some controversy after it was revealed that he has paid Aaron Rodgers over $1 million to appear on his show.
According to a report from Ben Strauss of the Washington Post, some ESPNers behind the scenes are not happy about McAfee constantly breaking the rules of journalism.
Via Washington Post
Still, the report of the payments was gossiped about by ESPN colleagues because of the gaudy amount and also what it might mean should another ESPN show want Rodgers to appear. There could be an element of professional jealousy involved but, more broadly, the question that came up most among ESPN staffers is what, exactly, are the rules for McAfee?
There was the “suck it” clip, but there also has been internal chafing at his seeming dismissal of Washington State football fans and a decades-long “GameDay” tradition. Another clip that circulated among staffers was McAfee’s spiraling speculation on the exit of Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams and an FBI raid that may or may not have happened. (One former ESPN reporter said there used to be a designated person to discuss with talent how they might handle sensitive off-the-field issues before any TV or radio show.)
ESPN execs have apparently found a way to wash their hands of any controversies stemming from McAfee’s show by saying that ESPN does not officially employ McAfee and his team.
ESPN executives note that McAfee’s show is licensed and that his co-hosts and guests are not employed by ESPN, which means there is less oversight of the show and, according to ESPN, less responsibility for what appears on it.
Over the weekend, McAfee responded to a survey claiming that 49 percent of fans didn’t like his presence on College GameDay by saying he might leave the show after a year.
It’ll be interesting to see if McAfee has any response to Strauss’ report about his ESPN colleagues taking shots at him.