"Stephen A Smith is behind this": Fans rally behind Pat McAfee after "diva" allegations from angry ESPN producers

2025 White Out Game: ESPN
Fans rally behind Pat McAfee after "diva" allegations from angry ESPN producers

Fans extended their support to Pat McAfee after the recent allegations against him by ESPN producers for having a diva-like personality. According to a report by FOS, some people in the company were unhappy and agitated after his dismissive comments about ESPN's College GameDay producers.

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"Totally unnecessary," one source told Front Office Sports. "Grow up and talk to these people to make it better. You are not a victim. Everyone is bending over backwards to put you in a good position- and these same people are incentivized for you to succeed."
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On social media, fans expressed their support for Pat McAfee amid these allegations.

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"Mannn I guarantee you Stephen A Smith is behind this lol. @stephenasmith is the real diva," one fan commented.
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"Pat is hands down the best thing to happen to ESPN in the last 20 years. They turned into a freaking political new organizaion instead of a Sports Machine and honestly they need people like Pat to revive the brand to what it was. If ESPN like money then they like Pat," another fan said.
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"Pat McAfee brought ESPN out of the gutter. It will never be what it was before, but he brought it back to the best it can possibly be," this fan stated.
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"ESPN must want to run their business into the ground," another fan wrote.
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"Pat is the best thing to happen to ESPN in the past decade," a fan commented.
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Pat McAfee has become a key member of the ESPN College GameDay crew in the past two years. According to Awful Announcing, he had shared a few clips on his Instagram stories showcasing all the criticism and backlash he received after the Oct.11 show during the Oregon vs Indiana game.

He then called out some of the workers at ESPN while addressing the backlash.

"If you think about old white people and old ESPN people, those are really the people that hate me the most at this stage of my life," McAfee said. "Now, granted there's some other groups that certainly have threatened my life on a pretty regular basis, I'd say they hate me too.
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"But throughout the entirety, old whites and the old ESPN people over the last like three years have really hated me. That's who all the producers are of GameDay too. So now, it's been a fun run. College football is great."

ESPN's president of content Burke Magnus expresses support for Pat McAfee amid 'diva' allegations

McAfee has the support of one of the top executives at ESPN, the president of content, Burke Magnus. He highlighted how the ex-NFL punter has brought in creativity to the show that has helped in increasing its viewership.

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"Pat is a creative force," Magus said per FOS. "He's pushed hard to advance College GameDay and hsi impact has been enormous.
"Pat is also an innovator, and when you have someone who disrupts his status quo, it's not surprising when there's friction and disagreement as a result. We will continue to encourage and support Pat and the entire GameDay cast and crew. ..."

This is not Pat McAfee's first feud with coworkers from ESPN. In 2024, he accused former Senior Vice President Norby Williamson of allegedly trying to "sabotage" his show. This resulted in his exit from the network a few months later.

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Edited by Priyam Hazarika
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