ESPN’s Pat McAfee found himself in hot water with New England Patriots fans after an awkward “College GameDay” segment with owner Robert Kraft last weekend.
While on-air, McAfee said he didn’t envy the position Kraft would be in at the end of the season.
“What’s about to happen. We all know. We don’t have to ask,” said McAfee.
There was an awkward silence after those comments, followed by a handshake that ultimately ended the segment. Some took the comments as McAfee hinting at the potential firing of legendary coach Bill Belichick.
However, the outspoken on-air personality is now saying that isn’t what he meant, at all.
“Everybody in New England — and I understand, I guess, from the New England perspective, why they did this — people were saying I ambushed Robert Kraft. I didn’t even ask a question,” McAfee said on “The Pat McAfee Show,” via NESN’s Zack Cox. “They said I ambushed him with that, and then we shook hands. They said, ‘Pat just told Robert Kraft that he’s going to fire Bill Belichick.’
“I did not say that at all. What I was talking about, for the first time in, like, 20 years, is he going to extend Bill Belichick? Is he going to move on from Bill Belichick? How about the quarterback position? What are you going to do? Like, I don’t envy his position at all. He’s the man who owned and operated the greatest dynasty in sports history. The most consistent dynasty.”
The entire subject involving the future of Belichick is obviously a touchy one right now in New England. Even if the team has fallen on hard times, Belichick is still the architect that shaped and molded the organization into the greatest dynasty in NFL history.
So there’s still a deep fondness and appreciation for what he’s meant to the team, even held by those that believe it’s time for a split. Those feelings are probably even greater for Kraft, who spent nearly two decades-and-a-half building the Patriots with Belichick.
Like McAfee said, who would envy that position?
