Pat McAfee may technically be a part of the media, but the former All-Pro punter clearly isn’t fan of the industry at large.
As such, it was hardly a surprise to hear him side with Rory McIlroy, who has received criticism in recent weeks for his media appearances — or lack thereof.
While he may have been the industry darling after breaking his 11-year major championship drought with a victory at The Masters in April, that’s no longer the case. After dodging the media following a lackluster showing at the PGA Championship, McIlroy found himself facing criticism from the likes of Scott Van Pelt, Dan Patrick, Steve Sands and others who questioned why the 36-year-old wasn’t fulfilling what they viewed as his professional duties.
McIlroy, meanwhile, has defended himself on multiple occasions by noting that such appearances aren’t mandatory. And he now has an ally in McAfee, who urged the North Ireland native to not give in to his critics.
“I’m going to say this to Rory: Rory, I love everything you’re doing,” McAfee said during Wednesday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “You walk up to the media and tell them to kiss your ass. You do whatever you need to do, buddy. It is great whenever you’re playing incredible golf. If you need to take some time, you need to take some time.”
McAfee proceeded to draw on his own leave of absence from his role with WWE, which he previously said came as the result of him fighting off exhaustion.
“S*it, I just took some time, I am taking some time from WWE,” he said. “You mentally get to a place where you’re kind of exhausted and things like that. So if that’s what happened to Rory or if that’s going on with Rory or it was happening with Rory and he’s on the other side — Rory, we just want to let you know, we love when you’re golfing good. And I love that people hate you. I think that is a good thing for sport, not a bad thing for sport.”
While McAfee might be overstating the degree to which people “hate” McIlroy, it was interesting to hear the West Virginia product connect the golf star’s heavy workload to his own. Now we’ll wait to see if McIlroy takes him up on his advice, which would certainly make for a memorable moment at this week’s Open Championship in his home country.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.