By Brian Steinberg

Pat McAfee, one of ESPN's most talkative speakers, turns out to be surprisingly mild-mannered.

The former Indianapolis Colts teammate, who has also entered the ring to fight for the WWE, surprised many a seasoned sportswriter on Wednesday in Bristol, Conn., by alternately lashing out at his critics (some of whom were in the audience) and asking the audience to tone down his noncommittal program, "The Pat McAfee Show."

"I understand that you may have a lot of reasons to hate me," McAfee said Wednesday during a speech at the Disney-backed sports media giant's headquarters. "I think they're wrong. I would appreciate it if you would just give me and my guys a chance. I think we're helping sports media as a whole go forward. I think we're going to do some things wrong and for that we apologize." Alongside ESPN stars Stephen A. Smith, Elle Duncan, Scott Van Pelt and Mike Greenberg, McAfee added: "We want to be good for sports in sports media. We want to build sports. And we would appreciate it if you would just give us a fair chance."