Pat McAfee said his relationship with ESPN is great except for one Norby Williamson. But while McAfee and Williamson’s issues appear to be similar to the experiences of other former ESPN talent like Jemele Hill, Dan Le Batard, and others, OutKick’s Dan Dakich is different.
In a video posted to OutKick’s X account on Sunday, Dakich, who also worked at ESPN, said he didn’t have any negative thoughts toward Williamson or McAfee.
“I enjoyed working for Norby Williamson I enjoyed our interactions, and I consider Pat kind of a friend,” Dakich said.
The OutKick host said one thing ESPN definitely needs to nip in the bud is any leaking of ratings information. If Pat is right and Williamson was behind the leaks, Dakich said the network needs to put its foot down.
“If he’s doing what Pat said and he’s leaking information, you cannot have that,” Dakich said. “If Norby feels like they went over his head, then he’s got to get over it. I mean you’ve got to be adults here, and you gotta get over it.”
Dan Dakich believed ESPN when the network said in a statement that the issue between McAfee and Williamson would be handled internally. He also believed that the leaking of information would come to an end, and that the host and executive would eventually put this behind them and move on.
But Dakich did commend McAfee for having the courage to stand up to someone at the company in a high position of power.
“Norby didn’t feel good about Pat getting hired, he made it known,” Dakich said. “Pat certainly doesn’t feel good about Norby, in his words, sabotaging his program, and God bless you, Pat. You did what most people have only dreamed of doing. You stood up to the man, baby.”
