“It’s not what you say, but how you say it,” is a wise adage. But at ESPN, it’s always felt like who said it was more important than what was said. Aaron Rodgers and Pat McAfee haven’t been sticking to sports for a while now, which was, and still is, a privilege that former and current Black employees aren’t privy to.
The terms “stick to sports” and “shut up and dribble” are coded language for when certain people want Black folks and Black athletics to remain silent. And while we live in a world where those people are becoming less politically correct, they’re still experts when it comes to dog-whistling. It’s a way to remind us of our “place,” in the same way that “thug,” “woke” and “diversity/DEI” mean Black.
I say this while understanding that this very site — before I was an employee here — was once in the news due to a “stick to sports” mandate as it was a publication that went out of its way not to hire Black employees, like so many others.
All of these things need to be understood to fully grasp how much Rodgers and McAfee have punked their bosses. Outside of the idiocy of their actions and words, these are examples of the freedoms that Black employees have never been able to enjoy, let alone think it possible and remain employed.
“I haven’t polled our crowd, but I’m rather certain that nobody’s wanting to come hang out with us to hear us talk about politics,” McAfee recently wrote as part of a longer message on his social media accounts. Over the last few months, we’ve learned that Rodgers is paid millions to appear on McAfee’s show to spew all of his crazy and dangerous theories about life, drugs, politics, vaccines and public safety. He basically gets to say anything while McAfee stands there in a tank top with the, “How did I know he was going to say that?” look on his face.
The show’s most recent blunder was due to Rodgers claiming that Jimmy Kimmel could have been listed in court documents associated with the Jeffrey Epstein case. That was followed by McAfee saying that Rodgers was done as a guest for the season, only for him to return a day later, which was also followed by McAfee posting some ridiculously dumb nonsense for MLK Day that nobody asked for.
Funny enough, that’s not even the wildest thing that’s happened, as that occurred when McAfee called out one of his bosses. “Now, there are some people actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN — more specifically, I believe, Norby Williamson is the guy who is attempting to sabotage our program,” said McAfee. Williamson is one of the most powerful people at ESPN and serves as their executive editor and head of event and studio production. And according to who you ask or believe, Williamson has a long history of doing what McAfee accused him of.
“And then are we just gonna combat that from a rat every single time?” added McAfee. If the late Bob McNair, former owner of the Houston Texans, were still alive, in this situation he might say, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
“They’d be out the door, without a question. No Black person could criticize Norby Williamson in that same way and keep their job.” A former ESPN executive told Deadspin.
That was from a former ESPN suit, but can you imagine if one of ESPN’s front-facing Black employees said or did anything close to what Rodgers and McAfee have been able to get away with? I asked a few folks who used to work there.
“I’m assuming that’s rhetorical,” former SportsCenter host Micahel Smith said with a laugh to Deadspin. “We both know the answer to that. And they know that we ALL know the answer to that.”
“I don’t believe there’s ever been anyone in recent memory with the cachet, contract and privilege,” said former ESPN host Cari Champion to Deadspin. “There are those who think they are bigger than the brand and then there’s Pat. Someone I believe could care a little less. You ask if I would? Not only did I not have the privilege, I’m a journalist — I would move differently.”
The “demographic” you come from has always gone a long way when it comes to who can get away with certain things at the “worldwide leader in sports.” It wasn’t that long ago that ESPN was doing everything it could to stop its talent from being in situations like the one they’re in now, as the company put on a dog-and-pony show to prove it.
Check this out from Joel Anderson’s recent article in Slate, in which he wrote about when ESPN scolded employees into keeping their opinions to themselves, months after Trump called for Hill’s firing after she’d tweeted that he was a “white supremacist” who “has largely surrounded himself w/other white supremacists,” back in 2017.
“Over the next two hours, under that spotlight, a parade of ESPN executives and personalities went through a series of presentations covering the future of the company. It all had the feel of a slickly produced high school pep rally, punctuated by the rollout of a new social media policy meant to guide us through the chaotic news cycle ushered in by the Trump presidency. That new policy mandated that we avoid outright partisanship and seek permission before commenting on political or social issues on the air or on social media.”
“As someone who received a two-week suspension for something said on Twitter, I suppose had I criticized one of the ESPN executives, my punishment would have been permanent,” Jemele Hill told Deadspin. “As in, not having a job. I think it’s safe to say 99.9 percent of people working at ESPN would either be severely reprimanded or fired.”
In 2022, ESPN changed and whitewashed the name of its Black site — on the last day of Black History Month — from The Undefeated to Andscape. The site is one of the lone places where Black talent has had the opportunity to not necessarily stick to sports, as they find ways to cover Blackness and culture when it intersects with the sports world. The original name of the site was inspired by a Maya Angelou quote. Sadly, it is no more.
It’s been reported that ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro called Jimmy Kimmel to smooth that situation over, as we see that McAfee still has the job that the company paid $85 million for in the same year in which hundreds were laid off. This isn’t the first time someone from ESPN hasn’t “stuck to sports,” but McAfee is a pioneer when it comes to calling out a boss and staying employed. If it happens once, there’s a chance it could happen again. And if it does, pay attention to who does it. I implore you to “see color” when you do.
