Pat McAfee Catches Heat For Larry Nassar Tweet, His Response Might Tell Everyone If ESPN Is Going To Change Him

Pat McAfee has one of the most popular sports talk shows in media. The basis for his show is that he says whatever he wants. In a world where most are terrified to give opinions that go outside popular orthodoxy, McAfee stands out. But is that going to change now that he's with ESPN?

That's the big question. McAfee has said that it won't. He said the only thing that is going to change with his show is less cursing. That makes sense since his current show does not air on television, which has different rules.

But he vowed to continue to speak his mind, whether or not left-leaning ESPN agrees with him. Of course, almost all front-facing ESPN employees stick to the standard left-wing talking points when they delve into politics. Will Cain, the only true right-leaning commentator the network employed, left the company in 2020.

McAfee isn't necessarily right-leaning, and he mostly does stick to sports. But he's also a comedian who makes jokes. Jokes are inherently offensive. That's why during the ESPY awards, McAfee is the only person who made any real jokes. He's the only one not afraid to offend people. And he does not apologize.

STATELINE, NV - JULY 08: Sports analyst Pat McAfee points towards fans while walking on the 18th fairway during Round One of the 2022 American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course on July 8, 2022 in Stateline, Nevada. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Clarkson Creative/Getty Images)

With that as the backdrop, McAfee sent out a tweet (or an X? whatever you want to call it) that many people did not like.

One of his producers sent out a picture of some previous Michigan State uniforms. The uniforms are objectively terrible.

McAfee responded to the tweet and wrote, "I think Nassar was in on the design team actually."

He's making a joke, obviously. I think -- and I'm not in his head -- the point is that the uniforms are so bad that the worst person who ever set foot on the Michigan State campus must have been involved. Larry Nassar made horrible decisions over the course of his life.

It's not a particularly great joke, but McAfee is pushing the envelope a bit. And, again, it's a joke.

As anyone could easily predict, the pearl-clutchers on Twitter started going nuts. Awful Announcing went particularly hard at McAfee. They called his tweet "grossly insensitive," "appalling," "tasteless and reprehensible" and a "gross use of his platform."

The irony of Awful Announcing's take is that it also wrote that it screenshotted the tweet for the article "in case the tweet gets deleted."

Hm. If the tweet is so offensive, why put it on the website at all? Isn't that a "gross use of their platform?"

But I digress.

In case people are wondering if McAfee will, in fact, delete the tweet, he seemed to indicate that he won't.

This is a very important moment for the future of Pat McAfee. Apologizing to the mob is the worst thing anyone can do. Once you apologize once, it never stops coming after you.

If he deletes the tweet to appease the "speech police," it goes against everything for which McAfee stands.

Now, what happens if ESPN asks and/or tells him to delete the tweet and/or apologize?

If he complies, then the question is officially answered: ESPN changed Pat McAfee.

But if he refuses, then the hope remains that ESPN might actually have a talent not afraid to take on the mob.

Pat McAfee is taking criticism on Twitter for a tweet he sent making a joke about Larry Nassar and Michigan State, and ESPN can't be happy. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Then, what does ESPN do? Does it allow McAfee to continue to say "offensive" things and risk getting criticism on Twitter.

Everyone knows how much ESPN executives care about what people on Twitter think. And, in this case, the Twitter mob is not happy with Pat McAfee. Because of that, ESPN is catching strays.

Not the stuff ESPN wants to see on Twitter. But will the company actually do anything about it? Is McAfee going to do an about-face?

Those are questions for which we don't yet have answers. But I'm personally fascinated to see where this goes.

It's going to say a lot about the future of both Pat McAfee and ESPN.