Pat McAfee goes scorched earth on the state of the Indianapolis Colts

The former Colts Punter and current sports media superstar took to Twitter/X to air out his grievances with the state of the organization.

The Indianapolis Colts are amidst another organizational collapse after melting down against the worst team in the NFL on Sunday. The New York Giants were slated with the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, that is until the Colts came to town.

Although veteran QB Joe Flacco filled in for the injured Anthony Richardson, it was Indy’s defense that stole the show. The Giants offense had been painfully bad up until this showing, averaging a league-low 14.3 points per game. The Colts defense, however, allowed the Giants to score its most points in a game since 2019 with 45 points.

Today’s abysmal showing by the Colts appeared to have been the tip of the iceberg for a ton of fans far and wide. For Pat McAfee, however, he has echoed a similar sentiment for quite some time now and took to social media following the loss to re-air those greivances (click ‘show more’ on McAfee’s embedded tweet below to see the full message).

When replying to a Colts fan on Twitter/X, McAfee did not hold back when it came to his thoughts on the current state of the organization that he spent his entire professional career with.

“Current players, who have won nothing during their entire tenures, started using me and my face to try and paint me as the enemy in the city I’ve committed my life to.

And in the end… everything went.. just like I fucking said it would

In the biggest moments everybody with a brain knew they’d crack.. and they did.”

Although McAfee has expressed his disappointment with the franchise over the course of this season, the post in question potentially sheds even more light as to what’s been brewing behind the scenes.

“A blind person could see the red flags on this team. Work ethic questions NEVER happens on good teams. Preparation commitment questions NEVER happens on good teams. [Being] late to meetings NEVER happens on good teams. [Being] late to and/or skipping treatment NEVER happens on good teams. The franchise QB tapped out of a game.. on 3rd down.. in the red zone.. because he was tired… [That’s] NEVER HAPPENED in the history of the NFL.”

Despite all of these ‘shots’ that McAfee appears to be taking at the organization as a whole, no opinion of his will be as loud as what he concluded his rant with. In his closing statement, McAfee, as he so often does, recognizes the fact that he was ‘just a punter’ but also explains that he and his show, which has become a wildly successful ESPN product that has been based in Indianapolis for years, will not be represented at Colts games for the foreseeable future:

“As a multiple-year season ticket holder (not renewing).. and someone who has actively, daily, attempted to be an additive to this beautiful city. I hope they become a good franchise again.. this city deserves it.. the OGs in the Colts building deserve it (equipment managers, trainers, ticketing, PR, sales). And on the flip side, the players/coaches in that building deserve whatever happens to them. Your unwarranted arrogance, laziness, and lack of professionalism has led you to ANOTHER early vacation… which is probably what most of you entitled bums have been hoping for.

I don’t speak for the city.. and I don’t speak for all ex-Colts players because I was only a punter. [I was] nominated for the HOF three times now but nonetheless.. I speak from my own perspective. I’ve never seen a group waste opportunities/talent/money more than this group.”

McAfee is a notable Colts supporter who became a true fan of the team after retirement, serving as the team’s unofficial ambassador over the years since. With each level-up that he and his show, The Pat McAfee Show, have seen since joining the airwaves in 2019, his support has only grown louder with each stop.

That is until midway through the 2024 NFL season.

When the whole Anthony Richardson ‘tap-out’ debacle happened, McAfee quickly joined his fellow former NFL athletes turned sports analysts/personalities to sound off against the play. He, like the entire aforementioned group, would go on to explain his side of things, claiming that such an instance is indicative of one’s ability to lead and is quite frankly unacceptable.

The tap-out would lead to Anthony Richardson’s infamous benching, and although it likely served as the tipping point, reports from within the building would later shed light on the fact his benching was a conglomeration of sorts.

Not to speak for the entire Colts fanbase, but it seemed as if the fans were and have been upset with McAfee for putting on a ‘smear campaign’ against the team’s young quarterback who had a well-documented case of inexperience that was then sprouting into immaturity.

McAfee would also eventually double down on some previous takes during this time that claimed starting Joe Flacco would give the team its best chance to win, which would only serve as ammunition in future weeks for opposing Colts fans who felt disrespected by his grasp on the situation. He has since explained his side of things regarding this claim, saying,

“When I said Joe Flacco gives us a better chance to win than Anthony Richardson immediately after the tap-out, I would’ve said whatever backup QB we had on the roster. That can’t be what the face of your team is doing. It just can’t be, and to a bigger aspect of it all, somehow AR thought it was ok to do that. That’s a locker room issue. That’s a culture issue. That’s an indicator of a loser attitude radiating through a building that was built by greats.”

Even though this likely would’ve sufficed as a reasonable justification at the time, waiting until now to say that couldn’t undo the previous drama that came before this.

Two weeks following Anthony Richardson’s benching, Pat McAfee had pivoted his frustrations entirely toward the organization itself rather than at the quarterback. The day following Flacco’s second start in relief of Richardson which happened to be a 10-point loss to the Buffalo Bills, McAfee took to his show to question the Colts’ culture inside the building as well as apologize to Anthony Richardson.

Not even a week later, the Colts linebacker duo that features Team Captain Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed responded to McAfee on their podcast. Their episode featured a thumbnail that included McAfee, and in an attempt to prop up their quarterback, they took subtle shots at the former Punter.

This, of course, got McAfee to respond on his show, and this would be the last time for the foreseeable future that he’d spend any time on the show speaking about the Colts at length — something he had tried to fit in on a daily basis for the many years that his show’s been on the air.

“So, I appreciate if the fact of the matter is that the Indianapolis Colts team is going to use me as motivation. Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed, two men that play on the defensive side of the ball for the Indianapolis Colts, have a podcast called The Trenches and they say ‘Zaire and EJ clap back at the media’ and used my picture in the [thumbnail].

As if I was the only human talking about problems in YOUR locker room. The one that had people missing treatment, gambling, being late to meetings, not working hard, and quarterbacks tapping out? And I’m the problem? Ok. I think that’s a potential part of the issue with the Colts…”

So yes, there has been a semi-longstanding beef that appears to have reached a breaking point in the eyes of McAfee, but his claims circle back to previous qualms that a portion of the fanbase is only now coming to terms with.

As for McAfee’s claims that the Colts locker room is indeed that lost, at this point, there’s no denying there’s at least truth to it. Perhaps all that he has said is overreactionary to bits and pieces that have been provided over the years, though there’s merit to what he’s saying strictly based on the on-the-field product of recent.

No person on planet Earth will take McAfee’s comments to heart more than Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay, and maybe that’s a good thing. This most recent collapse is indicative of an organizational failure that has persisted far too long and he is the only person who can truly right the ship.

After the Colts’ collapse in Jacksonville back in 2021, to a team that was similar to the 2024 Giants as both teams had secured the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft prior to their matchup, Jim Irsay himself went to Twitter/X to reassure the fans that what happened on that day was unacceptable and it wouldn’t happen again so long as he’s manning the ship.

“Colts fans… I’m feeling the pain and disappointment from this season. It’s certainly something that I apologize for. We have allowed, and I have allowed, doubt, fear, and a lack of faith to slip into our DNA and it will not stand. Every walking step in this offseason is committed to getting the horseshoe back to where it should be.

We understand what happened is unacceptable. I promise you one thing: anyone walking into the 56th Street complex this year will be walking in with ALL. CHIPS. IN. Period.

If you don’t want to put all your chips into the table for winning and excellence, then don’t walk in the door. This commitment starts with me. It starts with my self-analysis, and I can tell ALL of Colts Nation that this is something that every day, every hour, and every minute we are working to fix. It’s unacceptable and it will not stand.”

Fast-forward to the present day and the Indianapolis Colts are producing like their 2021 counterparts. They’ve played in a soulless type of way that’ll inevitably get someone, or some people, fired. After all, maybe the issue truly does lie at the top rung of the ladder. Perhaps Jim Irsay is the overarching problem within, though we’ll never know if he can right his wrongs unless he tears down the franchise himself and does so sooner rather than later.

One thing is undeniable, and that’s the fact the Indianapolis Colts as an organization has found itself in a far too familiar place. It’s a place that rivals the franchise’s brutal stretch from 2021-2023 and has given fans and analysts alike more questions than answers. Only time will tell if big changes will be made in the upcoming offseason, but after Sunday’s meltdown, I would be willing to bet that at least one person will be scapegoated if not a full rebuild.