Michael Kay pushes back on ESPN host’s criticism

Michael Kay defended his career after ESPN’s Pat McAfee took a shot at sports journalists this week, calling them “curmudgeon bums.”

McAfee’s comments in a post on X came in the wake of the viral press conference moment between Jacksonville Free Press’ Lynn Jones-Turnpin and Jaguars head coach Liam Coen. McAfee labeled the journalists who criticized the exchange as people who “hate sports.”

The clip — where Jones-Turnpin props up Coen and praises the job he did in Jacksonville — stirred up a heated debate about the time, place and nature of a dialogue like that between a coach and reporter.

In responding to McAfee’s comments, Kay said he didn’t take issue with the Jaguars press conference, but he defended sports journalism.

“I don’t think that I’m a curmudgeon bum,” Kay said, via Awful Announcing. “And I don’t hate sports. And I don’t think that sport should be looked at as anything but a unifier for society. And I don’t prey on sports because I saw it was an easier path to make it. I think I’ve done my job in an honorable way.”

Kay then outlined the different role McAfee plays in sports media.

“Pat McAfee’s show is there to celebrate sports, and I think it’s great, and I think it’s a great thing on ESPN,” Kay said. “He gets the best guests, and obviously, people feel that’s a nice landing spot to give their side of the story. He has figured it out. He’s not there to grill people. He’s there to have a conversation with somebody who’s a newsmaker, make them feel comfortable, have a good time. The formula works. It’s perfect. But you couldn’t do that in a postgame scrum, Pat. You can’t. That’s not the place for it.”

Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.