Despite being two of sports media’s more combustible personalities whose career paths include some similarities, Pat McAfee and Bill Simmons have largely steered clear of each other.
That, however, changed on Monday, as McAfee took aim at Simmons regarding The Ringer founder’s failed FanDuel parlay for Super Bowl LVIII — or more accurately, how many people took part in it.
“I think Bill Simmons, who has it all figured out, I think he had like 8,000 people riding alongside him,” McAfee said on The Pat McAfee Show. “That’s a huge number that did not hit. That’s really big. Really good, Bill. You still have it. I think we had 250,000 people or something like that. Keep running your mouth, Bill.”
Pat McAfee took aim at Bill Simmons over his FanDuel parlay: "I think Bill Simmons, who has it all figured out, I think he had like 8,000 people riding alongside him. That's a huge number that did not hit. That's really big. Really good, Bill. You still have it… Keep running… pic.twitter.com/934SQ5IyRT
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 12, 2024
Well then.
While it’s unclear what exactly McAfee was alluding to when he said “keep running your mouth,” all signs point to this being a response to the impression of the former All-Pro punter that Simmons performed last month.
“McAfee has created a new version of how to do this,” Simmons said during a discussion regarding the way NFL headlines are discussed on a daily basis. “He starts the show, and then he’ll be like, ‘Cowboys, bro, I don’t know man. I don’t know. What’s going on there, bro?’ And then it cuts to his three people, and they’re like, ‘I don’t know.’
“And then it will go back to him, and he’s like, ‘not good, bro. Not good. Keep an eye on that, bro.”
Bill Simmons with a surprisingly accurate impression of Pat McAfee
(h/t @rBillSimmonsPod) pic.twitter.com/SI4ziWOMpw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 16, 2024
Considering that Simmons’ impression of McAfee was relatively tame, it’s possible there’s more to this apparent beef that we aren’t aware of yet. It’s also curious that Simmons’ impression occurred nearly a month ago, so if this was McAfee’s way of returning fire, he was either only made aware of it recently or was waiting for the perfect opportunity to kick “The Sports Guy” while he was down.
If that’s the case, then the failed FanDuel Super Bowl parlay was just that — although the bigger story here might be how Simmons managed to convince 8,000 people to tail his bet in the first place. While celebrity-endorsed parlays and boosts are commonplace for a reason, it’s somewhat jarring that Simmons could convince 8,000 people (and McAfee way more, apparently) to risk their hard-earned money on a low probability bet.
That, however, is a story for another day. In the meantime, we’re left wondering whether there’s more to this feud that we’re currently unaware of and if/when Simmons will return serve.
There was a time when Simmons was the ESPN personality who created headaches for the network’s executives thanks to his propensity for challenging the media establishment. Now those roles seem to be reversed.
[The Pat McAfee Show]
