Getty Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday improved to 1-0 with a victory against the Las Vegas Raiders on November 13.
Jeff Saturday silenced his doubters by winning his first game as the interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. But don’t count on former Colts punter Pat McAfee forgetting about the new coach’s biggest critics before his debut.
The Colts received a lot of criticism for hiring Saturday over the last several days, the loudest of which seemed to come from former Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas and ex-Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher.
McAfee trolled both after Saturday won his first game as an NFL head coach.
As one could guess, Thomas is the man dressed in the German-styled attire hopping around with the liter of beer. Cowher is in the second video pumping a sound horn.
McAfee Throws Major Shade at Cowher
Thomas criticized McAfee first while appearing on NFL Network on November 11, but Cowher’s comments on the CBS pregame show were fresh in the minds of Colts fans after the 25-20 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10. Cowher’s comments came just hours before the game.
“For an owner to hire a coach who has never been an assistant at the college level or the pro level, and overseeing a lot of candidates that are qualified for that job, as we see in Steve Wilks, an opportunity to build a resume, it’s a disgrace to the coaching profession,” Cowher said. “And regardless of how this thing played out, what happened in Indianapolis is a travesty.”
For Cowher’s full comments, watch the video below:
Bill Cowher on the #Colts hiring of Jeff Saturday: “It’s a disgrace to the coaching profession.” – via CBS
Interestingly, McAfee’s tweet with the video of Cowher pumping the sound horn could have a deeper meaning. That video is from Game 4 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins, in which Cowher appeared at RBC Center to pump up Hurricanes fans before the playoff game.
Cowher has lived in North Carolina since retiring from the Steelers, but not only did he coach 15 years in Pittsburgh, he was born and raised in the Steel City. After the horn siren video aired, Pennsylvania media accused Cowher of being a traitor.
McAfee likely remembers this well, as he is also a Pittsburgh native and avid Penguins fan.
Was McAfee trying to call Cowher a traitor to NFL coaches with the horn siren video? It’s hard to tell. Perhaps McAfee simply found the video fitting for making fun of the former Steelers coach because he looks rather ridiculous in it.
The former Indianapolis punter further put Cowher on blast with another tweet after Saturday and the Colts beat the Raiders.
🗣🗣 BREAKING
Undefeated NFL Coach, @SaturdayJeff, will be joining the show tomorrow.
Will be a very solid conversation I assume.
Be a friend, tell a friend.
McAfee Trolls Joe Thomas Too
Before Cowher’s strong words, Thomas ripped into the Colts for the Saturday hire as well. The former Browns tackle mostly criticized Colts owner Jim Irsay, but he also found fault in Saturday for accepting the position.
“When you hire your drinking buddy to be head coach of an NFL football team, it is one of the most disrespectful things I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Thomas said. “To the commitment, the lifestyle and the experience that it takes to be an NFL coach, any coach, much less the head coach of the Indianapolis football Colts.”
Thomas continued on, calling the Saturday hire “a joke” and “the most egregious thing” he can recall occurring in the league.
Joe Thomas does not hold back here
🎥 @gmfb
It’s only one game, but the Colts were better in many areas during Saturday’s first game as head coach. So after one week, it’s not Saturday and Irsay, but rather Cowher and Thomas with egg on their face.