First Call: Steelers sign XFL star WR; new home for Pat McAfee's show

Wednesday’s “First Call” has some roster news for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Plus, the shenanigans between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays won’t stop.

And the “Pat McAfee Show” is heading to a major network.

Hello, Hak

After the Steelers invited XFL receiving star Hakeem Butler to their rookie minicamp, he didn’t end up participating.

Perhaps that was because the sides ended up working out a contract before the camp began and he didn’t want to risk injury. The XFL announced Tuesday the Steelers had signed Butler to a deal.

@410Keem NFL contract signed with the @steelers #XFLtoNFL | #XFL2023 pic.twitter.com/QibyNve6r5

— XFL (@XFL2023) May 16, 2023

Butler is a big target, standing at 6-foot-5. He led the league with eight touchdown receptions. The Iowa State product was also second in receiving yards (599) and receptions (51). His St. Louis Battlehawks were 7-3 this year and threw for more passing TDs (26) than any other team in the XFL thanks to former NFL quarterback A.J. McCarron.

A 2019 fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals, Butler has already had lots of stops in the pro football world. From Arizona, he landed on the rosters of the Panthers, Eagles and two teams in the CFL (the Edmonton Elks and British Columbia Lions).

During his final year at Iowa State, Butler posted 1,318 yards and nine touchdowns. The Battlehawks offensive coordinator is former Steelers quarterback Bruce Gradkowski.

Other tweaks

The Steelers weren’t done there. They also claimed former Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Manny Jones off waivers. That’s via Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston.

#Steelers awarded defensive lineman Manny Jones off waivers from #Cardinals, per a league source @KPRC2

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 16, 2023

Jones was an undrafted free agent out of Colorado State. At 6-foot-4, 290 pounds, Jones made the Cards practice squad. He played in four games, totaling 59 snaps and six total tackles. The 23-year-old can play any position up and down the defensive line.

The signing is likely a response to the fact that the team had to place defensive lineman Renell Wren on season-ending injured reserve.

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Ticky-tack and sticky stuff

It’s been quite the series between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.

On Monday, Aaron Judge hit two home runs against the Jays. Before the second one, Judge was caught peeking up the first base line toward his dugout. The Jays seemed to wonder if maybe a sign-stealing situation was afoot.

Aaron Judge hits a home run as the Blue Jays broadcasters wonder why he keeps glancing toward the dugout pic.twitter.com/ZrOY7grbYV

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 16, 2023

Then on Tuesday, Yankees starter Domingo German was perfect through three innings until he was checked for having a foreign substance on his hand. He was deemed to be too sticky, so he was ejected.

Here's German getting ejected from the game pic.twitter.com/NXdERczU2j

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 17, 2023

Crew chief James Hoye said that Domingo German’s hand was the “stickiest I’ve ever felt” and that it was “definitely not rosin,” per @BryanHoch

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 17, 2023

Also, both sides spent part of the game complaining about the opposing team’s third base coach leaving the coaching box.

So how did the game turn out Tuesday? Well of course, with Judge homering for the 11th time this season.

JUDGE 448 DEAD CENTER FOR THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/SR6YA1W1wQ

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 17, 2023

That gave New York a 5-3 lead. They’d go on to win 6-3. The homer by Judge apparently damaged a sign in the outfield, 448 feet away from home plate.

Judge's moonshot damaged the maple leaf in CF pic.twitter.com/EJp3mkkNpp

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 17, 2023

The YES broadcast wanted to make it clear that Judge couldn’t be accused of any sign stealing on this one.

First replay YES showed after the homer pic.twitter.com/rYuxmtturQ

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 17, 2023

The result vaulted New York into a third-place tie with the Blue Jays within the competitive American League East. They are both 7½ games back of the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays. Two games remain in this series. I fully expect one of them to devolve into a token beanball war and a typically fake baseball fight.

More from McAfee

Plum’s Pat McAfee is branching out again.

The former West Virginia and NFL kicker has a popular afternoon sports show on YouTube. Now it is going to be televised by ESPN. That’s according to ProFootballTalk.com.

Boy, it’s hard to be edgy and mainstream all at the same time. The McAfee show likes to position itself as unfettered, free flowing, spontaneous and ungoverned. Yet there is no entity in the world more milquetoast, vanilla and politically correct than ESPN. It’ll be really interesting to see how this works.

Already McAfee has suggested that the coarse language on the show will be toned ’dahn, but he insists the spirit of the show won’t change.

According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, it’s a deal that will pay McAfee “more than eight figures per year.”