Pat McAfee lashes out at fans calling him a sellout after ESPN deal - “Ya’ll motherfu**ers have no idea”

Former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee announced on Tuesday that "The Pat McAfee Show" has signed with ESPN and will begin airing on their network in the fall. This comes after a week of speculation that the host was considering a move to the sports network.

While the news is great for the show and all of those involved, there are some fans who aren't pleased with McAfee deciding to break his contract with FanDuel and leave for ESPN.

On Wednesday's show, as he returned from paternity leave after welcoming his first child with his wife Samantha, he addressed the criticism that he has received. He said people commented on his wife's Instagram page and told her that he is a 'sellout.'

“People commenting on my wife's Instagram, calling her husband and new baby's father a sellout or whatever. It's like, ya’ll motherfu**ers have no idea."

Pat McAfee went on to say that he makes most of the decisions for the benefit of the show, and that won't change. He said that the opportunity to join ESPN would be a game-changer for sports media because his show would bring a new type of sports media to an established platform.

"What are we even talking about? And the reason why I didn't like, try to explain myself to everybody is because, with this particular program, and I know it sounds arrogant or whatever, but I'm the host, we're the producers, what gets talked about has to go through here.

"I think we have a real opportunity here to change sports media as a whole."

"The Pat McAfee Show" will air on ESPN, ESPN+ and ESPN's YouTube channel as well. It is expected to still air for three hours Monday through Friday.

McAfee now steps away from the $120 million contract that he signed with FanDuel in December 2021.

Will Pat McAfee still host College GameDay?

With the news that Pat McAfee is moving his daily sports talk show to the ESPN network and streaming services, there are questions about his other gigs as well. It appears that the former Colts punter will return to ESPN's College GameDay crew this fall. Last fall, he joined the cast and was a fan favorite from the start.

He also hosted college football bowl games with Kirk Herbstreit throughout the season.

According to sources familiar with the situation, he will still be a part of the additional broadcasts and the Saturday morning crew as well. His position with WWE's "Smackdown" in uncertain at this time.