Longtime ESPN anchor Linda Cohn has slammed the network’s ‘lovefest’ with Pat McAfee after a promotion gave the ex-NFL star even more prominence on the airwaves.The former punter-turned-broadcaster will join the NFL Monday Night Countdown team, alongside the likes of Jason Kelce, for the 2026 season.McAfee was already a key part of the network’s output thanks to his daily, three-hour show – The Pat McAfee Show – and his role as an analyst on College GameDay.According to The Athletic, the 39-year-old could soon host an alternative broadcast of ‘Monday Night Football,’ too.After his promotion was made public, McAfee said he is the ‘luckiest man on earth.’ But the news, which emerged shortly after ESPN made more layoffs, has not gone down well with Linda Cohn, the legendary ‘SportsCenter’ anchor who warned her old bosses that they risk giving fans ‘McAfee fatigue.”I admire it all, but admiring what Pat McAfee has accomplished doesn’t mean I believe he needs to be everywhere at every time,’ Cohn said on her podcast on Thursday. [embedded content] Longtime ESPN anchor Linda Cohn has slammed the network’s ‘lovefest’ with Pat McAfee McAfee will join ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown show for the 2026 NFL season Monday Night Countdown is a two-hour, on-site preview show before every MNF game’Because, yeah, ESPN wants Pat McAfee to be everywhere at every time. How much Pat McAfee is enough Pat McAfee?! The answer apparently was more.’She continued: ‘So, let’s review your potential Monday during the NFL season, which is just a couple of weeks away. Three hours of Pat’s daily show, “The Pat McAfee Show,” from the game site. Then, Pat joins “Monday Night Countdown” before the game. ‘And then, on certain nights, potentially, his own alternative broadcast of “Monday Night Football.” At this point, let’s just call it “Monday Night McAfee.”Cohn warned that fans might become tired of watching the former punter. ‘They’re basically saying: “I like Pat, I watch Pat, I just don’t need him at breakfast, lunch, and dinner,”‘ she said. Back in June, the 66-year-old – the longest-serving anchor in SportsCenter history – announced her retirement from ESPN after 34 years on-air. Cohn hosted more than 5,500 episodes before stepping away from the microphone. She now has her own podcast, The Linda Cohn Show, with a recent episode entitled: ‘Is it smart for ESPN to have a lovefest with Pat McAfee.’ She said: ‘ESPN has done this for decades… they have their favorites. Let me tell you. And they make sure you know it over and over and over again. ‘The viewers can speak up, say they don’t like it. But ESPN, most of the time, turns a deaf ear. They do it more than you know. Trust me, I was there.’