ESPN’s Jeff Darlington got hit with some tough questions in an appearance Tuesday on the Pat McAfee Show.
Darlington, of course, made news in early May when he broke a bizarre story from the PGA Championship. Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 golfer, got arrested after a run-in with a police officer working traffic control before the second round. Darlington literally came upon the scene as it happened, shot video, and even talked to Scheffler in the patrol car.
But Pat McAfee and A.J. Hawk had some questions for Darlington on Tuesday.
“Why couldn’t you get Scottie Scheffler out of that arrest?” Hawk asked Darlington. “You were right there on the scene … you were a part of it.
“I would have jumped right on his back for you, A.J.,” Darlington joked.
“For real, Jeff, did you think about it?” Hawk asked. “‘If I get arrested here, this is good pub for me.'”
“There’s a lot of friends in my life who believe that I left some meat on the bone, in terms of the attention I got. I could have just gotten arrested,” Darlington said.
“You could have got tazed,” Hawk joked.
Here’s a look back at the incident, and Darlington’s literal pursuit of the story.
Here is video that I took of Scheffler being arrested: https://t.co/8UPZKvPCCf pic.twitter.com/9Tbp2tyrJh
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) May 17, 2024
“You should have released the video immediately, I think,” McAfee said. “You sat on that for a little bit, didn’t you?”
Darlington explained the complexity of the situation, and how he did the best he could under the circumstances.
Why didn’t you save Scottie Scheffler 😂😂
“There’s a lot of friends in my life that said I should’ve got arrested with him” @JeffDarlington #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/ASScTfdxL9
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 23, 2024
Scheffler got booked on several charges, including one felony, but was released in time to play his round. All charges were later dropped. The police officer involved in the incident came under fire from many for his actions and earned ridicule for claiming in the police report that Scheffler had ruined his $80 pair of pants.
“If you could have got a couple more pictures of that guy’s $80 pants getting ruined,” McAfee joked. “Everybody was resorting right back to, ‘Was Jeff Darlington at the scene? … Did he pop out of the cop car? You were in the middle of all of it, Jeff.”
[Pat McAfee Show]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.