Pat McAfee Says He 'Couldn't Sleep' After Aaron Rodgers Started Feud with Jimmy Kimmel on His Show

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Tommaso Boddi/Getty; Chance Yeh/WireImage

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Tommaso Boddi/Getty; Chance Yeh/WireImage

Pat McAfee’s show on ESPN is known for generating headlines, but that doesn’t mean he sleeps well at night when he’s making news.

“There was a lot of times where I’m like, ‘Do I deserve to have this platform if I don’t know everything about everything?’ ” McAfee, 36, said.

He added, “Because there was nights I couldn’t sleep. Like I’m like, ‘Maybe I am f—ing this up completely.’ ”

“I think we’re just a different style of programming,” McAfee said. “We’re a conversationalist. We have no idea where we’re headed. We don’t have scheduled questions. I don’t prep anybody when they’re coming on. I don’t have a list of questions. I’m just having a conversation with people and, boy, it has certainly got us into some s—."

He added, “But it has also got us some magic. So it’s a weird dynamic.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

TheCollege GameDayco-host has previously taken responsibility for Rodgers’ inflammatory rhetoric on his show, namely in the wake of a war of words between Rodgers andJimmy Kimmelin January.

After the New York Jets quarterback said that Kimmel had ties to disgraced financierJeffrey Epstein— leading the talk show host to threaten to sue the athlete — McAfee shared that he regretted the role his ESPN show has played in the dust-up.

“We obviously don’t like to be associated with anything negative ever,” McAfee. “We’d like our show to be an uplifting one, a happy one, a fun one, but it’s because we talk s— and try to make light of everything. Some things obviously people get very pissed off about, especially when they’re that — serious allegations.”

OnAll the Smoke, McAfee said he realizes viewers are now wondering about the future of his show.

“People are thinking we’re gonna get kicked off ESPN this year already,” he said. “People are already assuming that it’s not gonna work, it’s not gonna last because Aaron started a war with Jimmy Kimmel on our show.”

He added, looking back, “There was a lot … the block got real hot for about three weeks.”

source: people.com