Pat McAfee reacting to the Sauce Gardner trade Credit: The Pat McAfee Show
By Sean Keeley on

Pat McAfee isn’t just a former Indianapolis Colts player; he also called the city home, broadcasts his popular show there, and is a well-known supporter of the NFL franchise (except when he feels unappreciated).

Pat McAfee worked through the Colts trading two first-rounders for Sauce Gardner in real-time.

So when something big happens with the Colts while The Pat McAfee Show is on the air, it’s always worthwhile to see what his live reaction is.

That was the case on Tuesday when news broke that the Colts had traded for New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner. McAfee’s initial reaction was as expected: excited and loud.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have breaking news,” started McAfee. “The Jets are trading Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts because the Colts need secondary help, and the Jets is the Jets. Sauce, welcome to town, brother.

“Sauce Gardner, you’re going to love Indianapolis. You’re going to love this place. We’re going to love you.”

Following the initial news break, word of what the Colts gave up to acquire Gardner was then reported, and you could see McAfee doing the mental math in real-time over whether or not it was worth it to give up two first-round picks.

“Colts are trading two first-round picks,” said McAfee before quietly mulling it over and then realizing he was giving the impression that it was too much. “Sauce, I’m pumped. I am pumped here, Sauce.

“Two first-round picks for a corner. So now we got our answer on why the Jets moved on. Now we got our answer for why the Jets moved on. Two first-round picks to the Jets for a corner in Sauce. Listen, Sauce, we’re going to love you here, okay? We are very, very… Now, the way you start looking at this, if you’re the Colts, is, our team is going to be a mature team. All of a sudden, we got guys at basically every single spot. Our offensive line pretty much locked down, and we got them for a while. Wide receivers, we got a few years with all of them. On the defensive side, we sign a bunch of guys to a bunch of deals. We got people locked up for a while.

“I guess you would look at the draft as a potential chance to supplement somebody. But really, the way it’s being viewed here, clearly, is like, we don’t need the draft right now. We got guys. We got a team that can go. Let’s add a piece that is elite to a defense that has to get better for us to go where we want to go in the Super Bowl.”

It was clear that McAfee was still processing the loss of two first-round draft picks and was almost justifying it to himself in real time.

The big takeaway, as the host alluded, is that Indianapolis (7-2) clearly feels the time is now to try to win a Super Bowl, and they’re willing to roll the dice on the future to secure that opportunity.

Gardner is in his fourth NFL season and was named a first-team All-Pro in both of his first two. He has six passes defended and 20 tackles on the season so far. Before this year, the Jets signed Gardner to a four-year, $120.4 million extension.

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.

View all posts by Sean Keeley