Pat McAfee has been the subject of backlash after using Larry Nassar as the punchline of a joke about Michigan State’s football uniforms. The sports talker said on his show yesterday that he did not mean to offend, but he doesn’t think anyone can seriously believe that he does not take the sexual abuse committed by the former Michigan State doctor seriously.
Stoney & Jansen struck a decisive tone on Monday morning. The tweet was inappropriate and Pat McAfee should face consequences.
“If you sit there and it’s uncomfortable to read to yourself, let alone say it out loud – I’m glad that you read it instead of offering that opportunity to me,” Jon Jansen said to his partner Mike Stone on 97.1 The Ticket. “If it’s that uncomfortable, then it shouldn’t even be tweeted. He should be disciplined.”
ESPN recently signed McAfee to a deal that will see his show distributed across multiple network platforms. He is also the newest member of the College GameDay cast. Jansen said given the recent layoffs at ESPN, letting McAfee go unpunished would not be a good look for the company.
“I mean, this is unacceptable, especially at a time where those at ESPN have gone through ‘hey, a lot of our friends, a lot of our acquaintances have lost their jobs’ and they’ve always handled themselves in a professional manner. A lot of them, not all of them, but a lot of them. Then they bring on Pat McAfee, and this is how now he is representing ESPN?”
He pointed out that Nassar victimized more than 200 athletes. There is a good chance that many of them either saw the tweet or heard about it.
Mike Stone said it was clear that McAfee did not mean any harm, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be consequences.
“They have to do something,” Stone said of ESPN. “Whether you believe what he said was funny, whatever the intent was. Look, the intent was humor. There’s no doubt about it. But sometimes, you know, humor in these cases is not what’s called for.”
