Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
New York Post
Stephen A. Smith defends fellow ESPN host Pat McAfee calling out sports media: ‘Don’t blame him’
By Christian Arnold,
9 hours ago
Stephen A. Smith, one of ESPN’s best-known personalities, came to the defense of fellow sports talk host Pat McAfee after he shot back at reporters during a media day up in at the network’s Bristol, Connecticut headquarters.
McAfee took the opportunity to hit back at what he viewed as unfair reporting on his show and the idea that he was never given a fair shake from those who cover sports media.
“The Pat McAfee Show” is one of the network’s tentpole shows after it was brought on the daily program in September, but it hasn’t come without controversy.
Smith, no stranger to controversy himself, spoke out about McAfee’s decision to defend himself during a recent edition of the “Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“Pat McAfee, obviously, expressed his opinion about the coverage he was receiving from the media out there. I gotta tell you, you can debate delivery, presentation, whatever; what you can’t debate is that he made some very valid points,” Smith on his own show.
“Because people have been going at him from Day 1, they have been blaming him, and they have been trying to malign the show. And him speaking up for himself, I don’t blame him one damn bit — he was right to do so. Let me get that out of the way.”
“I think they’re misguided,” McAfee bemoaned during the ESPN media day. “I would appreciate if you would give me and my guys a chance. I think we’re helping out sports media as a whole in the future. I think we’re going to get some things wrong and we apologize for that. But whenever you’re ripping our s— and trying to kill us, I think ‘journalistic standards’ certainly is problematic.”
For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0