Former NFL QB Ryan Leaf exited ESPN after clashing with Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee last fall. He had harsh criticisms for the two College GameDay hosts.
While appearing on OutKick’s Hot Mic with Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow, Leaf was asked what led to him leaving ESPN. He revealed that a quip made about the Washington State/Oregon State football game last year on GameDay led him to push back against the jokes about the two schools being left behind by the demise of the Pac-12. He harshly criticized the panelists of the show for their jokes, which he said ultimately led to the severing of his relationship with the Worldwide Leader.
“When I got them for making it a big joke, right? Herbstreit and McAfee are the most overly sensitive people I’ve ever met,” Leaf told Hutton and Withrow. “For guys who live in this high platform, they get criticized all the time, but oh my God, are they overly sensitive, narcissist.”
Ryan Leaf added that, despite his clash with Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit, he was less than pleased with the way he was let go from ESPN — where he had worked since 2019 — noting that he believed he deserved to be told by the executives making the decision.
“In my situation, the coordinating producer — who I had an incredible relationship with — said, ‘Hey, I think we’re going to pull you off games the rest of the season.’ And I’m like ‘You told me week in and week out, I’m your number one guy.’ The coordinated producer calls me and I said, ‘Well, you’re not making this decision. Who’s making this decision?’ He said, ‘Well, someone above my pay grade.’ And I said, ‘Well, you need to have someone above your pay grade call me.’
“So they did,” said Leaf. “And by that time I had confirmed with people on why it happened. So when I got them on the phone, I was just like, ‘Yeah, I think this is about right. I think you and I, we don’t have shared values, and so I think this is probably the proper decision. I get it, I get it. You got $85 million people scaring you. You got to fall in line.’ And so I understand that, on my end of things, it still sucks.”
Ryan Leaf then shared that both Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee attempted to claim they had nothing to do with his exit from ESPN.
