Todd McShay: ESPN blocking Mel Kiper on-air reunion over ‘petty, petty sh*t’

Nearly 17 years after becoming ESPN’s one-two punch for NFL Draft coverage, Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. built something the network can’t seem to recreate, and according to McShay, that’s exactly why ESPN won’t let them appear together anymore.

McShay opened up during this week’s episode of his show at The Ringer about what he says has been going on between him, Kiper, and ESPN since his departure. The network, according to McShay, has made a deliberate decision to keep him and Kiper off the air together, refusing to allow the duo that defined ESPN’s draft coverage for nearly two decades to share a microphone on any platform.

“What’s been going on with Mel and I is some petty, petty sh*t,” McShay explained. “And it’s been going on with Mel and I recently, ever since I started this show. They absolutely have refused to have Mel and I on the air together on any platform.”

The reason, according to McShay, is that ESPN doesn’t want to be reminded of what it had. Field Yates has taken over as Kiper’s on-air partner since McShay was part of the network’s June 2023 layoffs, and while McShay praised Yates as a person and professional, he made clear why the pairing doesn’t work.

McShay went on to acknowledge Yates’ strengths, calling him “a really nice guy” who’s “really good at his job,” particularly in fantasy football, where he’s built a strong reputation. But being versatile and being elite at a single craft are different things entirely. McShay drew a hypothetical parallel: what if ESPN had asked him, during his tenure as a draft analyst and college football sideline reporter, to suddenly become an expert in fantasy football?

“In order to make compelling content with Mel, you must challenge Mel,” McShay said. “And in order to challenge Mel, you must be grounded in high-level content and sources and years of perspective. And it needs to be your full-time gig, and it’s just not.”

That challenge — the ability to go toe-to-toe with Kiper’s encyclopedic knowledge and decades of scouting relationships — is what made McShay’s partnership with the legendary analyst work. It wasn’t just two people reading draft boards. It was a chess match between equals, both armed with deep sourcing, strong opinions, and the confidence to defend them against a man McShay describes as having “that encyclopedia that is his brain.”

And McShay says ESPN is actively blocking any chance of the public seeing that aforementioned chemistry again. And it’s not because they’re threatened by The Ringer or worried about McShay’s platform.

“It’s just the new girlfriend, who’s going to block with their body the opportunity to let the public see the rapport her boyfriend has with the ex,” he explained. “And it’s jealous, petty sh*t rooted in insecurity. And you say, ‘Why?’ And I ask the same question because it’s ESPN; it’s the Worldwide Leader. We’re just The McShay Show. But some of the richest people I know are also the pettiest and most insecure. You can give them all the jets and the yachts and the mansions in the world, but they just won’t ever be happy or content. Other people’s happiness and security make them crazy because they can never replicate what you have.”

They might just be The McShay Show, but McShay maintains he’s never been happier professionally than he is now.

“There’s no amount of Mike Greenbergs, studios, cameras, distribution outlets, graphics, replays, stats, or anything else that will replicate what Mel and I were,” McShay added. “And I think the bottom line is that they don’t want to remind their audience of that fact.”