Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf has recently made headlines for his scathing comments about prominent sports media personalities Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee. Leaf, who has transitioned into a career in sports broadcasting following his football days, reportedly accused Herbstreit and McAfee of being narcissists and claimed that they played a role in him losing his hosting gig at ESPN.
The controversy surrounding Leaf’s comments has ignited a conversation about the competitive and sometimes cutthroat nature of the sports media industry. It also sheds light on the challenges that athletes face when they transition from the playing field to the broadcast booth.
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“When someone does that, I really don’t know how to respond to it. I don’t want to get caught up in a game of lashing back out on him, I don’t know what he’s referring to,” Herbstreit said Thursday on the SI Media podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina. “But I honestly do wish him the best and hope he does — I don’t know what he does on TV but he’s doing a good job and I hope he keeps doing it.”
Leaf alleged the two high-profile personalities played a large role in his removal from calling games last year after he criticized “College GameDay” following Lee Corso’s remarks about his alma mater, Washington State, and Oregon State.
Cougars coach Jake Dickert thought Corso called it the “nobody watches us bowl,” when it appeared the ESPN star labeled it the “nobody wants us bowl,” in reference to conference realignment and the two schools being passed over while fellow conference mates left for rival conferences.
Herbstreit then quote tweeted a response from Leaf, while McAfee later called out Leaf during a “College GameDay” segment.
“Huh? Is this a real tweet??? You must have been hacked Ryan,” Herbstreit tweeted on Sept. 24, 2023. “Lee’s point OBVIOUSLY was-it is 2 teams that have been left out-that haven’t found a home yet-NOT the “no one watches Bowl”. Know you’re excited your boys won but DAMN!”
“The coordinated producer calls me and I said, ‘Well, you’re not making this decision. Who’s making this decision?’ He said, ‘Well, someone above my pay grade.’ And I said, ‘Well, you need to have someone above your pay grade call me,’” Leaf told Outkick. “So they did and by that time I had confirmed with people on why it happened. So when I got them on the phone, I was just like, ‘Yeah, I think this is about right. I think you and I, we don’t have shared values and so I think this is probably the proper decision.’
“I get it, I get it. You got $85 million people (McAfee’s contract) scaring you. You got to fall in line. I understand that, on my end of things.”
Herbstreit second-handedly learned of Leaf’s comments and detailed how he tried to help him when he broke into the television business.
He said Leaf always gave off a thankful vibe for being willing to help him.
“From everything he always communicated to me, he appreciated — in fact, he stopped in a Rose Bowl one time with his son and was like just thanking me for kind of being in his corner and kind of helping him,” Herbstreit said. “I was happy to do that, of course. I do that with anybody and everybody.”
Herbstreit added that he felt compelled to respond to Leaf on X about his remarks since Leaf brought Corso into the picture.
“If there’s one way to get me riled up is take a shot at one of my teammates, especially an 88-year-old at the time, Lee Corso,” Herbstreit said on the podcast. “I thought we were friends, so I just said, ‘Hey, man, what are you doing here? Why are you coming at us and Lee?’ I thought we were always good and then he came back at me even harder and I was like, ‘Wow, maybe there’s something going on that I didn’t know about.’ And he was vocal a few other times on social media and I don’t know what I did or where things got sideways and now he’s out saying things again.”
Leaf claimed he heard from both Herbstreit and McAfee after being axed, but Herbstreit did not offer any details — nor was he asked — on that claim.
“They tried play it off like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Leaf said. “Just silly stuff. It is what it is.”
One thing is certain: the world of sports media is never short on drama, and the latest episode involving Ryan Leaf, Kirk Herbstreit, and Pat McAfee is just the latest chapter in a never-ending saga of rivalries, controversies, and clashes of egos.
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