Don’t expect to see Pat McAfee or his self-produced ESPN show at next month’s NFL Draft in Green Bay.
As the former Colts punter-turned-media maven explained Wednesday, he wasn’t pleased with his show’s treatment at last week’s NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. And fearing a repeat of these problems at April’s NFL Draft in Green Bay, McAfee said he no longer plans on attending.
‘I guess I’m not going to the draft,’ he said in a self-shot social media video.
Earlier in the day, McAfee complained of some logistical issues for his crew in Indianapolis.
‘The NFL’s making it very easy for us to do stuff,’ McAfee said sarcastically on Wednesday’s episode, as first reported by Front Office Sports. ‘It’s really very kind of them. It’s very cool. I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to showcase your s***.’
‘No red tape?’ Hawk asked in response. ‘No hoops to jump through?’
Don’t expect to see Pat McAfee or his ESPN show at next month’s NFL Draft in Green Bay
McAfee shared a slide show of himself measuring out various locations for his set
‘No, middle management’s doing exactly what they don’t normally do,’ McAfee snapped back. ‘They’re making it easy. It’s awesome. Those people matter for sure. You guys are really good at your jobs! Thank God they’re there.
‘Without them, could you imagine? Nobody would watch the NFL if it wasn’t for these people being there.’
The issue, McAfee made clear, was that NFL staffers prevented his crew from constructing their set at Lucas Oil Stadium, where the annual scouting combine is held.
As he saw it, certain logistical issues could have been addressed before his team arrived in Indianapolis, where, he explained, he’d been invited directly by NFL brass.
‘We were invited by you guys to do this— by people above you,’ McAfee said. ‘Thank you so much for making everything so easy.’
To drive home his point, McAfee shared a slide show of himself measuring out various locations for his set to be assembled.
Front Office Sports reported on McAfee’s complaints online, writing on social media that he: ‘will not be taking his show to the NFL Draft after being treated with what he says was insufficient respect by ”middle managers” at the Scouting Combine.’
McAfee disagreed with that characterization of the situation – specifically the part about him feeling ‘insufficient respect’ from the league.
‘… there’s a narrative being built about me that isn’t true,’ he said in the the self-shot X video. ‘I should just address it.’
‘… I don’t think I’ve ever said ‘insufficient respect’ in my life.’ Now, was there a lack of respect? For sure,’ he continued.
‘But the combine and the draft – two different events.
‘Combine, got approved to be there. That was gonna be a big deal, lucky to be there. Then, a few days beforehand, some people at that middle level who have power wanted to flex the fact that they had power, created some problems, obviously.’
McAfee then broke into a mocking tone: ”’I’m gonna have to sign off on this; I’m gonna have to say this; you can’t do this, you can’t do that. This is what I’m saying, yada yada.”
‘All bulls***. And I adhered to all of it. I even went down and did a site survey by myself with a tape measure to make sure there was enough room in the stadium for our set.’
McAfee is seen on the set of The Pat McAfee Show along Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LIX
While McAfee did stress the ‘combine week was awesome,’ he still doubled down on his complaints with the unnamed mid-level league officials.
‘Hoops were made for us to jump through for no reason because, I think, I’m younger than these people, so they think they can… I don’t think they get it,’ he said.
And since McAfee envisioned similar issues at next month’s draft in Green Bay, he’s deciding to take a pass.
‘Draft was the same thing,’ he said. ‘Where they wanted to put us, allegedly, how we were gonna go, what we were gonna have to do, flexing power while showing disdain for me and my show and my guys all at the same time – when we have a relationship with the actual league, I think. So it’s an interesting time.
‘With that being said, I don’t want to play their games. So we said we’re not gonna go to the draft.’
ESPN declined to comment on the situation when contacted by DailyMail.com. The NFL did not immediately respond to a similar request.
McAfee typically does remote broadcasts from various NFL locations, such as the combine or Super Bowl’s radio row.
He also spends the football season working Saturday’s on ESPN’s remote broadcasts of College Gameday.
