Pat McAfee has a five-year deal with ESPN. The relationship might not make it to five months.
During his Friday show on ESPN, McAfee accused ESPN executive Norby Williamson of attempting to torpedo the arrangement.
“I believe, Norby Williamson is the guy who is attempting to sabotage our program,” McAfee said, via Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post. “Now, I’m not 100 percent sure. That is just seemingly the only human that has information, and then that information gets leaked, and it’s wrong, and it sets a narrative of what our show is.”
It’s a risky move by McAfee, even if he were 100 percent sure that Williamson leaked negative ratings information to Andrew Marchand of the Post. Calling out executives from the network that employs you on the very platform the network provides is never a move that lays the foundation for a harmonious relationship that will stand the test of time.
“[A]re we just gonna combat that from a rat every single time?” McAfee added. “Somebody tried to get ahead of our actual ratings release with wrong numbers 12 hours beforehand. That’s a sabotage attempt. It’s been happening this entire season from some people who didn’t necessarily love the old addition of ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ to the ESPN family. There’s a lot of those.”
Even if he’s right, it’s the kind of move that will harden positions and prompt enemies within the building to make even more zealous efforts to blow things up. Especially at a time when ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel is upset with things Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on the show earlier this week.
Maybe McAfee wins. Maybe he emerges with more power and influence. Maybe Williamson gets fired. Maybe all other internal enemies will be vanquished.
The safer bet is that the decision to take the feud public will grease the skids toward a premature divorce. If McAfee believes forces within ESPN are working against him, maybe that’s what he wants.