Ex-ESPN star criticizes company's direction after fan complaint

Trey Wingo a former ESPN staple on SportsCenter and NFL Live appeared to lament the direction of his former employer earlier this week in a post on social media Wingo responded to another user on X who wrote Kids in the present day don't realize it but you used to be able to turn on ESPN and not see Stephen A Smith or Pat McAfee They were glorious times CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COM Let me preface this by saying I have so multiple wonderful memories and so a great number of great friends still working there that I want to succeed but he s right Wingo wrote Tuesday on X It used to be a glorious buffet where you could pick and choose what you craved Now it s like a banquet dinner chicken or fish FORMER ESPN HOST DETAILS FIRING AFTER ADVOCACY FOR WOMEN AGAINST TRANS ATHLETES 'I THOUGHT THIS WAS SPORTS'Smith has been a figurehead at ESPN for years and his popularity has only grown since he started doing First Take with Skip Bayless Max Kellerman Shannon Sharpe and others He s appeared on NBA coverage and has his own podcast separate from ESPN McAfee came into ESPN as one of the preponderance popular podcasters in sports The former Indianapolis Colts punter has feuded with ESPN execs since joining the company But with his Q tally improving McAfee has been seen on College Gameday and on WWE broadcasts SportsCenter is still a main part of ESPN offerings in the mornings and evenings However the effort lineup is such that it s not on throughout the mornings anymore Wingo left ESPN in and has done work with Caesars Sportsbook and Peacock since then Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter