Pat McAfee Opens Up About Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Kimmel Controversy: ‘There Were Nights I Couldn’t Sleep’

Behind the scenes of the controversy surrounding Aaron Rodgers’ comments about Jimmy Kimmel, Pat McAfee was struggling to navigate the wave of backlash.

On a recent episode of the All The Spoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, McAfee opened up about the media whirlwind that formed after Rodgers — a friend of his — associated Kimmel with late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Rodgers made the comments during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, and Kimmel threatened to take legal action.

For McAfee, that wasn’t the only time Rodgers put his show in hot water. Throughout the NFL season, Rodgers regularly used the platform to voice his mistrust of the Covid-19 vaccine and former Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The retired NFL punter admitted it was difficult.

“The block got real hot for about three weeks,” McAfee joked.

McAfee revealed he spoke to analyst Shannon Sharpe for guidance. Sharpe found himself in a similar position on a recent episode of his podcast Club Shay Shay, when comedian Katt Williams shared countless stories that shook the entertainment industry for weeks.

“I don’t know that world, though,” McAfee said in reference to Rodgers’ views on medicine. “Like, I’m not educated in that world; and there were a lot of times where I’m like, ‘Do I deserve to have this platform if I don’t know everything about everything so that this shit can’t happen and people don’t end up hating us?’

“So, I asked Shannon about that. I’m like, ‘Shannon, do you feel like whenever something’s being said that you don’t know if it’s right or not, how much blame are you putting on yourself?’ Because there were nights I couldn’t sleep. I’m like, ‘Maybe I am fucking this up completely.'”

Fortunately for McAfee, that feeling didn’t last long. That doubt seemingly went away when he reminded himself of the value his show brings with unprecedented access to some of the biggest names in the sports world.

“I think we’re just a different style of programming,” McAfee said. “We’re conversationalist. We have no idea where we’re headed. We don’t have scheduled questions. I don’t prep anybody when they’re coming on. I don’t have a list of questions. I’m just having a conversation with people; and boy, it has certainly got us into some shit, but it has also got us some magic that not a lot of other places can have.”