Dave Portnoy says Pat McAfee ‘rightfully lost some trust’ over Barstool exit

Pat McAfee is arguably ESPN’s most important talent.

The highly successful Pat McAfee Show, and his eccentric personality on College Game Day, have earned him an $85 million contract.

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Arguably the face of the network, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t his first role upon retiring from the NFL.

After eight years as the Indianapolis Colts punter, McAfee stepped away from the NFL and joined Barstool Sports – run by Dave Portnoy.

McAfee became a mainstay at Barstool across their media empire, but just a year after joining, he announced he was leaving.

McAfee gave a positive review of Barstool, but publicly revealed the reason why he ended his time at the company.

“I began being disrespected by the business people in the building. I’ve decided I don’t want to make money for these folks anymore,” wrote McAfee at the time.

“Financial decisions were being made for me by people I had never met, deals were getting made and pulled without my knowledge.

“The transparency of everything became obsolete, and also very expensive. I do not place any blame or hold any grudge towards Erika [Nardini] and Dave for this.

“They’ve been nothing but nice and fair to me. They paid me very well. This is below them.”

Portnoy has now taken ownership of his exit, revealing pleas for McAfee to stay fell on deaf ears.

“I love and respect Pat,” Portnoy said.

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“I begged him to stay, but he’s got to do what he thinks is right for him. He’s a complex dude and he rightfully lost some trust in some of our business folks.

“Ultimately, that’s my and Erika’s fault.”

Portnoy gets candid on McAfee relationship amid new book launch

Celebrating the release of his new book, ‘Cancel Me If You Can’, Portnoy discussed McAfee’s exit in an interview with Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspeigel.

“He thought the business side disrespected him, so he felt he had to leave, was his version of events,” Portnoy told Glasspiegel.

“I think he probably was always going to leave. He’s a super ambitious guy. Super talented guy. But that was the reason he publicly gave—that he couldn’t trust our business side anymore.

“Now, I don’t think our business side did anything wrong. I think he kind of blew it out of proportion, but that is the reason he gave.”

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The former Colts punter has seen his profile grow and grow in recent years, boosted by the fact his YouTube show is now a regular on the TV schedule.

ESPN and McAfee’s representatives are discussing an extension to his current contract that would pay him more than $60 million per year.

This would make him the highest paid personality on their roster, leaping over Stephen A. Smith who has a contract worth $100 million.

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