{"id":96500,"date":"2025-06-01T20:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T20:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/96500\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T20:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T20:40:09","slug":"pat-mcafee-triggered-by-colts-players-putting-him-on-a-youtube-graphic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/96500\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat McAfee triggered by Colts players putting him on a YouTube graphic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pat McAfee has gone to bat<\/a> for the Indianapolis Colts many times over the years and can often be seen watching their games from his luxury box in Lucas Oil Stadium where he hobnobs with celebrities<\/a> and suits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If he feels that doing so entitles him to some kind of shield from criticism from Colts players over what he says on his progrum, that probably explains his petty response to a recent podcast episode featuring Zaire Franklin and E.J. Speed.<\/p>\n

On Thursday\u2019s episode<\/a> of The Trenches Show with Zaire Franklin, the longtime Colts linebacker welcomed fellow linebacker E.J. Speed for a frank discussion about the media coverage surrounding the team and the NFL in general.<\/p>\n

In one instance, Franklin took the national media to task for flip-flopping weekly regarding what they think needs to happen. While he eventually cites the ongoing drama surrounding quarterback Anthony Richardson, he doesn\u2019t call out any specific media members.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about the motherfuckers talking crazy on national television?\u201d asked Franklin. \u201cYou are on national television and you\u2019re screaming about changes that need to be made. Just for the next week, you scream for the opposite change to be made. Do you understand this shit is written in pen? Do you understand if we did what you said the first time, you can\u2019t just undo it and go do the opposite thing the next time? Do you understand if you fire a bunch of people, you can\u2019t just hire them and then put this person\u2026 You can\u2019t do that. Y\u2019all on national television. What we say. Use your platform responsibly. Come on, gang. And pick a side. Whose team is y\u2019all on?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not on the side of the fans because they\u2019re manipulating and gaslighting them\u2026 You all saying a bunch of shit and picking up off a narrative that\u2019s building instead of being the actual adult in the room and telling them the real and the real guidance, bro.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Franklin led a discussion about the internal leadership of the Colts, likely in response to a recent piece in The Athletic by James Boyd<\/a> about how the team\u2019s leaders are growing frustrated with head coach Shane Steichen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media has a job to do,\u201d said Franklin. \u201cI\u2019m not going to say I\u2019m a fan of the media, but I appreciate their role in things. If they do it right. I have appreciation for the media. You know what I\u2019m saying?\u2026 Like I said, it\u2019s our job to keep the vultures out. We just got to do our part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was all pretty standard players vs. media stuff. And again, no specific media member is mentioned or called out.<\/p>\n

The whole discussion probably would have flown under the radar if not for the choice to include an image of McAfee, a former Colts punter, on the cover art of the episode on YouTube.<\/p>\n

That caught McAfee\u2019s attention, who made it clear he intended to offer a rebuttal during Friday\u2019s show, tagging Franklin in his X post.<\/p>\n

OH WOWWWWW.. I\u2019m just now seeing this<\/p>\n

Today should be fun. pic.twitter.com\/a1Gm0LK6Zg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 22, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

So incensed was McAfee, it seems, that he started taking on people in the comments as well.<\/p>\n

And you don\u2019t know ball<\/p>\n

\u2014 Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 22, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t stop Colts supporters from<\/a> coming out<\/a> of the woodwork<\/a> to take McAfee to task over his comments about Anthony Richardson<\/a> after the second-year quarterback subbed himself out of a game (which he discussed at length for 25 minutes<\/a> and later backtracked on<\/a>) as well as recent comments about the state of the franchise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Colts team fucking sucks,\u201d McAfee said on his Nov. 11 show. \u201cI\u2019m disgusted. I\u2019m disgusted.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAfee has long been known for speaking freely on his program, criticizing and chastizing just about anyone, including ESPN<\/a>. However, he\u2019s also shown a propensity<\/a> for resenting<\/a> even a modicum<\/a> of criticism<\/a> in his direction (an affliction he shares with frequent guest Aaron Rodgers), often painting himself<\/a> as the victim<\/a> for reaping what he\u2019s sowed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

All of which brings us to Friday\u2019s progrum<\/a>, where McAfee dedicated a few minutes to clapping back at Franklin.<\/p>\n

Pat responds to the Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed clip<\/a>
byu\/CareerPillow376<\/a> inPatMcAfeeShowOfficial<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate if the fact of the matter is that the Indianapolis Colts team is going to use me as motivation,\u201d said McAfee. \u201cZaire Franklin and E.J. Speed, two men who play on the defensive side of the ball for the Indianapolis Colts. Good ball players. They have a podcast called The Trenches, and they say \u2018Zaire and E.J. clap back at the media\u2019 and they use my picture, okay, in the thing, as if I\u2019m the only human that was talking about all the problems that were happening in your locker room, okay? Your locker room. The one that had people missing treatment and gambling on the team and being late to meetings and saying they don\u2019t work hard and quarterbacks stepping out of\u2026 and I\u2019m the problem? Okay. Okay. I think that\u2019s a potential part of the issue with the Colts.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAfee then started discussing this weekend\u2019s game between the Colts and Lions, saying that this current Indy roster has \u201cpotentially turned the Colts into losers\u201d in contrast to the current Lions roster. He then pointed out the Colts haven\u2019t won the AFC South in 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way people are getting paid and the way people act, you would think they\u2019re winning Super Bowls. No, they\u2019re not. They haven\u2019t won the NFC South since 2014,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got people wondering if they\u2019re even working hard. That\u2019s in their locker room, not mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAfee then went on a mini-congratulatory tour of his time as a punter on the Colts when the franchise won four AFC South titles and went to one Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Not content to let it lie there, McAfee then said he \u201cchecked back for Zaire Franklin\u201d and \u201cwent through his college record at Syracuse\u201d noting that the school had \u201cnot a lot of wins there either,\u201d presumably implying that Franklin is not a good leader.<\/p>\n

Franklin, who signed a three-year, $31.26 million extension this offseason, currently leads the NFL in tackles with 110 along with 3 passes defended, two tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 interception.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully this whole thing that I\u2019m the bad guy that\u2019s pointing out all the things that your locker room has done and your team has done, for the first time in the history of the NFL things have happened but not in a good way. But if I\u2019m the guy that\u2019s gonna motivate them and rally them, and they\u2019re gonna utilize me as they get over the wins, that\u2019s sweet,\u201d said McAfee. \u201cBut not this week, and give me the Lions -20.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAfee doesn\u2019t like to consider himself part of the media but he absolutely is. But then again, this kind of aggrieved reaction is part and parcel of ESPN\u2019s superstar era<\/a>, where the people on the screen need to be part of the story just as much as the athletes they\u2019re criticizing.<\/p>\n

[The Pat McAfee Show, The Pat McAfee Show Official Subreddit<\/a>]<\/p>\n

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