Stephen A. Smith, one of ESPN's best-known personalities, defended fellow sports-talk host Pat McAfee after the latter fired back at reporters during a media day at the network's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
McAfee used the opportunity to hit back at what he called unfair coverage on his show and the notion that he has never received fair treatment from sports media reporters.
“The Pat McAfee Show” has become one of the network's flagship programs since it began airing daily in September, but it has not been without controversy.
Smith, who is no stranger to controversy himself, spoke out about McAfee's decision to defend himself on a recent appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“Pat McAfee, obviously, was expressing his opinion about the coverage he was receiving from the media and my point is, you can argue about the tone of the speech, the presentation and so forth, but you can't argue that he made a very valid point,” Smith said on his show.
“From day one, people have been attacking him, blaming him, trying to smear the show. And I don't blame him one bit for speaking up for himself. He was right to do so. Let me be the first to say that.”
McAfee has regularly made headlines, especially when it comes to his scheduled weekly interviews with Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers got into a spat with ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel last year, causing some headaches for the NFL punter-turned-sports media personality.
McAfee ended up He answered questions about “journalistic standards” with CNBC's Alex Sherman.
“I think they're misguided,” McAfee lamented at ESPN's media day. “I would appreciate it if you would give me and my staff a chance. I think we are doing a service to the future of sports media as a whole. I think we get things wrong sometimes, and we apologize for those, but when you try to disparage and kill us, I think 'journalistic standards' is certainly an issue.”
