Ryan Leaf calls out ESPN, Pat McAfee for being 'con men and frauds' amid Mary Kate Cornett legal action

There’s certainly no love lost between Ryan Leaf and ESPN, even more so when Pat McAfee is involved. Now, in light of pending legal action on the part of 18-year-old Ole Miss freshman Mary Kate Cornett, the infamous former Washington State quarterback, taken No. 2 overall in the 1998 NFL Draft, is once again taking direct aim at both ESPN and its firebrand host of the popular The Pat McAfee Show.

Cornett and her legal representation recently confirmed plans to pursue litigation against both ESPN and McAfee, as well as two Barstool Sports personalities among others, for helping to propagate a salacious rumor about the embattled Ole Miss student that went viral on X/Twitter in late February.

“This is what the brand is, always has been, con men and frauds have dressed like this for centuries,” Leaf wrote Wednesday morning about an attached link to The Athletic‘s story Tuesday detailing the troubling situation involving Cornett, who has become an unwilling target of online and in-person vitriol due to the viral rumor. “At least ESPN gets proper credit for associated with it.”

This is what the brand is, always has been, con men and frauds have dressed like this for centuries. At least ESPN gets proper credit for associating with it! @espn @PatMcAfeeShow https://t.co/UsDumZ2Lfd

— Ryan D Leaf (@RyanDLeaf) April 2, 2025

Leaf, a reformed ex-drug addict who is now seven years sober and a vocal ambassador for addiction recovery and mental health, has recently served as a TV analyst for The CW calling Pac-12 games in 2024. That followed a well-publicized breakup with ESPN following public criticism of McAfee and fellow College GameDay analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso for making light of Washington State and Oregon State being the lone members of the Pac-12 after the conference was decimated by the widespread college football realignment last summer.

Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett intends to take legal action against Pat McAfee, ESPN for spreading viral rumor

McAfee has become a controversial figure in recent years for his willingness to discuss a multitude of topics — including those with no connection to sports — on his highly-popular show televised on both ESPN and YouTube. That now includes promoting a fraudulent rumor about Cornett.

Cornett and her family have accused McAfee, as well as Barstool personalities KFC Barstool and Jack Mac and former NFL player Antonio Brown, of defaming her and publicly spreading “categorically false and defamatory information” about an alleged story involving the father of her then-boyfriend.

“I would like people to be held accountable for what they’ve done,” Cornett told The Athletic in a report released Tuesday morning. “You’re ruining my life by talking about it on your show for nothing but attention, but here I am staying up until 5 in the morning, every night, throwing up, not eating because I’m so anxious about what’s going to happen for the rest of my life.”

The Athletic piece goes into great detail about all the ways Cornett’s life — and that of her family — have been upended in the month since the salacious rumor was spread online. McAfee is cited after jokingly teasing the viral rumor about Cornett — without directly mentioning the 18-year-old Ole Miss freshman by name — on the Feb. 26 episode of his ESPN show, The Pat McAfee Show, during an interview with ESPN insider Adam Schefter.

The Oxford (Miss.) Police are currently investigating the matter after the Cornett family filed a police report and employed a private investigator to look into the source of the online rumor.