Pat McAfee defends himself against claims that he "ambushed" Robert Kraft on ESPN set
BOSTON -- Pat McAfee visited Foxboro on Saturday and had a wonderful time. He came away with one question, though: "Are you guys getting soft up there?"
McAfee asked that question on Monday after finding himself in the middle of some internet controversy over the weekend, stemming from his comment to Patriots owner Robert Kraft on the "ESPN College GameDay" set. Toward the end of Kraft's appearance ahead of the Army-Navy Game at Gillette Stadium, McAfee said, "I don't envy your position. What's about to happen. We all know. We don't have to ask."
With Robert Kraft on the Gameday set, Pat McAfee not so subtly hints at parting ways with Belichick.
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) December 9, 2023
Kraft: “We like to win, so we want to do everything we can to get our team back so we can be winning.”
McAfee: “I don’t envy your position. What’s about to happen. We all know.“ pic.twitter.com/xpW1d6B0LJ
Many viewers interpreted that comment as McAfee telling Kraft that everybody knows that the owner has to fire Bill Belichick.
On his show on Monday, McAfee said that was not the case at all.
"And everybody in New England -- and I understand, I guess, from the New England perspective why they did this -- they're like, people were saying I ambushed Robert Kraft. I didn't even ask a question," McAfee said. "They said I ambushed him with that. We shook hands. And then they said, Pat just told Robert Kraft that he's gonna fire Bill Belichick. It's like, I did not say that at all."
McAfee -- who offered this explanation moments after beaming about his on- and off-air interactions with Belichick -- said that he only meant exactly what he actually stated to Kraft.
"What I was talking about, for the first time in like 20 years, is he gonna extend Bill Belichick? Is he gonna move on from Bill Belichick? How about the quarterback position? What are you gonna do? Like, I don't envy his position at all," McAfee said. "So when I said I don't envy your position, everybody in Boston was like he just told Robert Kraft he has to fire Bill. It's like, yo, you said that. I didn't. I was talking about all the other things. Like, there's a lot. Maybe that's one of them. Maybe that's certainly one of the outcomes, which leads me even more to say, I don't envy his position."
McAfee added: "The internet just built a narrative really quickly about what I said. ... I didn't say Robert Kraft is firing Bill Belichick. Y'all are saying it!"
McAfee said he didn't realize it had become an issue until he left Gillette and was on his way to the airport.
"After I listened to it back, my intent was that. It was nothing else," he said. "So I would just like to let everyone know that I was not disrespecting Robert Kraft. It was the complete opposite of that. It was like, hey, massive respect for everything, you have a tough position right now."