Pat McAfee on Zaire Franklin Credit: The Pat McAfee Show

Pat McAfee has gone to bat for the Indianapolis Colts many times over the years and can often be seen watching their games from his luxury box in Lucas Oil Stadium where he hobnobs with celebrities and suits.

If he feels that doing so entitles him to some kind of shield from criticism from Colts players over what he says on his progrum, that probably explains his petty response to a recent podcast episode featuring Zaire Franklin and E.J. Speed.

On Thursday’s episode of The Trenches Show with Zaire Franklin, the longtime Colts linebacker welcomed fellow linebacker E.J. Speed for a frank discussion about the media coverage surrounding the team and the NFL in general.

In one instance, Franklin took the national media to task for flip-flopping weekly regarding what they think needs to happen. While he eventually cites the ongoing drama surrounding quarterback Anthony Richardson, he doesn’t call out any specific media members.

“How about the motherfuckers talking crazy on national television?” asked Franklin. “You are on national television and you’re screaming about changes that need to be made. Just for the next week, you scream for the opposite change to be made. Do you understand this shit is written in pen? Do you understand if we did what you said the first time, you can’t just undo it and go do the opposite thing the next time? Do you understand if you fire a bunch of people, you can’t just hire them and then put this person… You can’t do that. Y’all on national television. What we say. Use your platform responsibly. Come on, gang. And pick a side. Whose team is y’all on?

“They’re not on the side of the fans because they’re manipulating and gaslighting them… You all saying a bunch of shit and picking up off a narrative that’s building instead of being the actual adult in the room and telling them the real and the real guidance, bro.”

Later, Franklin led a discussion about the internal leadership of the Colts, likely in response to a recent piece in The Athletic by James Boyd about how the team’s leaders are growing frustrated with head coach Shane Steichen.

“The media has a job to do,” said Franklin. “I’m not going to say I’m a fan of the media, but I appreciate their role in things. If they do it right. I have appreciation for the media. You know what I’m saying?… Like I said, it’s our job to keep the vultures out. We just got to do our part of that.”

It was all pretty standard players vs. media stuff. And again, no specific media member is mentioned or called out.

The whole discussion probably would have flown under the radar if not for the choice to include an image of McAfee, a former Colts punter, on the cover art of the episode on YouTube.

That caught McAfee’s attention, who made it clear he intended to offer a rebuttal during Friday’s show, tagging Franklin in his X post.

So incensed was McAfee, it seems, that he started taking on people in the comments as well.

That didn’t stop Colts supporters from coming out of the woodwork to take McAfee to task over his comments about Anthony Richardson after the second-year quarterback subbed himself out of a game (which he discussed at length for 25 minutes and later backtracked on) as well as recent comments about the state of the franchise.

“This Colts team fucking sucks,” McAfee said on his Nov. 11 show. “I’m disgusted. I’m disgusted.”

McAfee has long been known for speaking freely on his program, criticizing and chastizing just about anyone, including ESPN. However, he’s also shown a propensity for resenting even a modicum of criticism in his direction (an affliction he shares with frequent guest Aaron Rodgers), often painting himself as the victim for reaping what he’s sowed.

All of which brings us to Friday’s progrum, where McAfee dedicated a few minutes to clapping back at Franklin.

“I appreciate if the fact of the matter is that the Indianapolis Colts team is going to use me as motivation,” said McAfee. “Zaire Franklin and E.J. Speed, two men who play on the defensive side of the ball for the Indianapolis Colts. Good ball players. They have a podcast called The Trenches, and they say ‘Zaire and E.J. clap back at the media’ and they use my picture, okay, in the thing, as if I’m the only human that was talking about all the problems that were happening in your locker room, okay? Your locker room. The one that had people missing treatment and gambling on the team and being late to meetings and saying they don’t work hard and quarterbacks stepping out of… and I’m the problem? Okay. Okay. I think that’s a potential part of the issue with the Colts.”

McAfee then started discussing this weekend’s game between the Colts and Lions, saying that this current Indy roster has “potentially turned the Colts into losers” in contrast to the current Lions roster. He then pointed out the Colts haven’t won the AFC South in 10 years.

“The way people are getting paid and the way people act, you would think they’re winning Super Bowls. No, they’re not. They haven’t won the NFC South since 2014,” he said. “We got people wondering if they’re even working hard. That’s in their locker room, not mine.”

McAfee then went on a mini-congratulatory tour of his time as a punter on the Colts when the franchise won four AFC South titles and went to one Super Bowl.

Not content to let it lie there, McAfee then said he “checked back for Zaire Franklin” and “went through his college record at Syracuse” noting that the school had “not a lot of wins there either,” presumably implying that Franklin is not a good leader.

Franklin, who signed a three-year, $31.26 million extension this offseason, currently leads the NFL in tackles with 110 along with 3 passes defended, two tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 interception.

“Hopefully this whole thing that I’m the bad guy that’s pointing out all the things that your locker room has done and your team has done, for the first time in the history of the NFL things have happened but not in a good way. But if I’m the guy that’s gonna motivate them and rally them, and they’re gonna utilize me as they get over the wins, that’s sweet,” said McAfee. “But not this week, and give me the Lions -20.”

McAfee doesn’t like to consider himself part of the media but he absolutely is. But then again, this kind of aggrieved reaction is part and parcel of ESPN’s superstar era, where the people on the screen need to be part of the story just as much as the athletes they’re criticizing.

[The Pat McAfee Show, The Pat McAfee Show Official Subreddit]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.