ESPN has decided it will not bring back the “Monday Night Football” broadcasting team of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland this season, and one of the names that continues to come up as a potential replacement is Pat McAfee. While McAfee has indicated that he does not think ESPN will offer him the job, he says he would take it without thinking twice.
On his show Monday morning, McAfee shared his official stance on the soon-to-be vacant “Monday Night Football” jobs. He reiterated that he does not believe the gig is in play for him, but he fully admits he has campaigned for it.
My official OFFICIAL statement on Monday Night Football #MNF #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/vKv7mQBUKK
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 11, 2020
“I’ve said if I was offered the ‘Monday Night Football’ booth, I would take it in a heartbeat,” McAfee admitted. “That is dream job, precision job A. That is a mini-Super Bowl every week. I told my people to let (ESPN) know that if this ‘Monday Night Football’ thing opens up, I would not mind being the third person — even if they want to add me with (Tessitore) and (McFarland). I’m 100 percent OK with that.”
McAfee added that he would have no interest in a sideline reporter job, as he is “not a person who’s supposed to ask for permission to speak.”
“I think my knowledge of being inside an undefeated team, kicking off a Super Bowl, is much different than the former comedians they’ve tried to put in there,” McAfee said. “I’m coming from a much different perspective.”
While he clearly has interest, McAfee says ESPN executives have given him “every single excuse you could possibly give me to not put me in there.” For that reason, he believes there is no chance he will be offered the job.
McAfee has a tremendous sense of humor and a large following. We’ve seen how good some of his comedy work is, but he also played in the NFL and understands what life is like on that side. While there’s little question he would be more popular than McFarland or some other past color analysts, it doesn’t sound like ESPN wants to go in that direction. The network is reportedly considered some other internal candidates for the MNF revamp.
