Ryan Leaf doesn’t hold Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit in high regard.
“Herbstreit and McAfee are the most, you know, overly sensitive people I’ve ever met for guys who live in this, ya know, high platform,” Leaf said on “Outkick Hot Mic” on Tuesday. “They get criticized all the time, but boy, God, are they overly sensitive. Narcissists.”
Leaf torched the pair of ESPN “College GameDay” personalities while alleging they used their standing within the company to have him ousted from calling games for ESPN last year.
The former Washington State quarterback entered into feuds with the two stars over conference realignment comments regarding his alma mater and Oregon State before his exit.
“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 said. “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.”
Leaf described his beef with the two personalities as “when I got after them for making it a big joke,” in reference to how conference realignment affected the then-Pac-12 schools.
Lee Corso had referred to a Washington State-Oregon State matchup as the “nobody wants us bowl,” but Cougars coach Jake Dickert thought Corso said the “nobody watches us bowl” and called out Corso.
Those two schools were not poached in the latest round of conference realignment, while fellow conference mates like Washington, Oregon and Colorado all exited.
Leaf then blasted the “College GameDay” crew for those remarks in a quote tweet of a video featuring Dickert’s remarks.
“And @CollegeGameDay is supposed to be a celebration of #CFB. Instead, they choose to make it a big joke, and everyone on the panel enables it. Just a bunch of wind socks. #CougsvsEverybody,” he tweeted on Sept. 24, 2023.
Herbstreit called out Leaf for his remark.
“Huh? Is this a real tweet??? You must have been hacked Ryan,” Herbstreit responded later that day in a quote tweet. “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!”
Leaf later went on “Good Morning Football” on NFL Network to further call out the network for its take on the rivalry, as chronicled by Awful Announcing.
McAfee joined the fray one week later, even calling Leaf out after Rece Davis mentioned Washington State’s Ol’ Crimson flag making a 292nd consecutive “College GameDay” appearance.
“Ah, who cares! Who cares! Were you guys showing this flag when they were 1-11 in 2009? How about 2-10 in 2010? You were? That’s wild,” McAfee said on Sept. 30, 2023. “So when they sucked, you guys were showing them every single week on the biggest college football show? Wow! Handle success, Ryan Leaf! Geez.
“I want a West Virginia flag flying up there every single time. We don’t get it, Washington State gets it and all of a sudden, Washington State’s going, ‘Now Big Beav’s up there!’ Like, shut up! Washington State, about sick of you! Waste of time on this show.”
Leaf called his last game for the network on Sept. 23, 2023, per Awful Announcing, which meant his critical remarks came one day after he ripped his employers and co-workers.
He said the outcome “still sucks” since he still enjoyed calling games.
“In my situation, the coordinating producer who and I had an incredible relationship with, came and said, ‘Hey, you know, I think we’re going to pull you off games the rest of the season,'” Leaf told Outkick. “And I’m like, ‘You know, you told me week in and week out, I’m your No. 1 guy.”
After ESPN moved on, Leaf said he received messages from Herbstreit and McAfee.
“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.”
