Pat McAfee primarily focuses on the NFL and college football and professional wrestling, but decided at the last minute this year that he wanted to be involved in the MLB All-Star festivities. ESPN did not hesitate as they put him front and center to have him introduce the participants on Monday night and let him host a Q&A panel earlier in the day.
Some baseball fans may have been surprised to find McAfee so prominently involved, but regular ESPN viewers barely batted an eye. As (at least) one person on social media pointed out, at this point ESPN is mostly made up of McAfee and Stephen A. Smith noting, "Kids today don't realize it, but you used to be able tot urn on ESPN and not see Stephen A. Smith or Pat McAfee."
One ex-ESPN employee agreed as former NFL Primetime host Trey Wingo added that "it used to be a glorious buffet when you could pick and choose what you wanted. Now it's like a banquet dinner: chicken or fish?"
Let me preface this by saying I have so many wonderful memories and so many great friends still working there that I want to succeed… but he’s right. It used to be a glorious buffet where you could pick and choose what you wanted. Now it’s like a banquet dinner: chicken or fish? https://t.co/xYxFPPdUfi
— trey wingo (@wingoz) July 15, 2025
Wingo worked at ESPN for more than two decades from 1997 to 2020. Chicken and fish were available when he worked there, but not quite to this extreme.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ex-ESPN Star Rips Network Over Stephen A. Smith, Pat McAfee.
