Zaire Franklin and Pat McAfee just erupted into a social media feud over Anthony Richardson

Two members of the Indianapolis Colts nation are feuding, and it's all over the treatment of the NFL's youngest quarterback. Here's the rundown on how it all went down.

Anthony Richardson had an epic comeback after being benched for two weeks - a decision made by head coach Shane Steichen that virtually everyone in the NFL disagreed with. It seems the benching made Richardson come back stronger, but through it all, there was no doubt that the young QB had the unwavering support of his teammates.

The media, however, was a different story. Though Steichen came under fire for his decision to bench Richardson, Richardson himself faced an avalanche of criticism after he admitted that he tapped out of a play because he was tired.

That includes criticism from Pat McAfee, a former Colts punter, who tweeted, "I had never seen an NFL QB tap out while still being healthy until watching Anthony Richardson. The QB is your franchise. The message it sends is loud and influential."

While this was all going on, Zaire Franklin and Kenny Moore II - both Colts' team captains - spoke to the media about problems in the locker room that put Steichen in an extremely negative light.

Moore said that not everybody on the team was working as hard as they could be, and that problems with the team weren't being addressed. "Whatever it was last week, you're as great as your last performance," he said. "But once we step out on the field again, you've got the opportunity to change that narrative. But to go out and do the same mistakes over and over, I think that's what drives me insane as a player. Individually, that's what drives me insane. Because at the beginning of the season, we all said that week one is going to be week one. September is going to be September. But we got to do our best to be better as the season progresses. And we are in November, and I just don't see us making that jump from September to November. I'm seeing the same thing. So I think a lot of things, we just got to start addressing it and not sugarcoat or beat around the bush. You know, I think that's what we are lacking. And honestly, it's just year to year, it's the same thing."

Franklin expressed similar sentiments:

McAfee responded with a quite different tune towards Richardson, though he also said he was "disgusted" by the current state of the Colts.

"So AR had no idea how he's supposed to be a professional because there's no damn professionals in that building. These have been the stories that have been happening over the last few years," he began. "You know, and I'm not saying this team under Shane Steichen has been this, but if you remember when Frank Reich was the coach ... people were late to meetings, team meetings, people showing up late to team meetings, people were - people were missing training. You know, obviously there's a story about gambling in the locker room that came out from the Colts. And it was like, why aren't we winning? It's like, oh, the culture is just not very like conducive to being a professional outfit. And then this whole thing happens and it's like, we're all here working hard. It's like, how do you not even, what do you even, what do you mean you're not working hard in this entire thing? Joe Flacco throws a pick on the first play. Not great. Then he gets the ball back again, throws another pick. Then he's ready to go on to throw a third one.

There's the backstory; now on to the feud.

Franklin hosts a podcast, "The Trenches," and on a recent episode, EJ Speed was his guest. The two held nothing back about how the media covered the Richardson situation, and while they didn't call anyone out specifically by name, a picture of McAfee was included in the thumbnail.

"Ain't it crazy the difference a week makes?" Speed began. "I think we had a conversation about that like a few pods ago; we was talking about like how people like talk so crazy and then don't even delete they old tweets and come back and say the total opposite."

"What the f*** about the motherf***ers talking crazy on national television?" Franklin interjected. "You are national television and you're screaming about changes that need to be made, just for the next week, you scream for the opposite change to be made. Do you understand this s*** is written in pen? You understand if we did what you say the first time, you can't just undo it and go do the opposite thing the next time. You understand if you fire a bunch of people, you can't just hire them and then put this person... like, you can't do that. Like, y'all national television! What we say? Use your platform responsibly. Come on, gang. And pick a side! Like, who's who team is y'all on?"

Speed answered, "They on the side of the fans," to which Franklin responded, "They not on the side of the fans because they're manipulating and gaslighting them. Yeah, I went there."

Franklin then moved on to talking about Richardson specifically, criticizing how the media has treated him.

"I'm saying, though, y'all saying a bunch of s*** and picking up off a narrative that's building instead of being the actual adult in the room and telling them the real, and the real guidance, bro. The last couple weeks was a part of Anthony's story," he said. "That's a part of his growth. That's a part of his development and no, he don't f***ing got it. No, he has not f***ing arrived. He hasn't. He's on a process. He's on -- he joined. He's in the race that every single person in that building, all the players who actually are worth a s*** in the league, the journey that they are on ,and that is the never-ending process of getting better, bro. Never ending process, the never-ending pursuit to perfection. That's what he's on. That's what we all are on first and foremost."

It didn't take long for McAfee to respond. He first tweeted a screenshot of the thumbnail, which featured his image, as well as a list of AFC South championships the Colts have won, four years of which he played for the team. The Colts haven't won the AFC South since 2014; McAfee retired after the 2016 season.

McAfee quickly made sure people knew he was going to respond, tweeting, "OH WOWWWWW.. I'm just seeing this. Today should be fun."

And on Friday, he clapped back on his own show.

“I appreciate if the fact of the matter is that the Indianapolis Colts team is going to use me as motivation,” he began. “Zaire Franklin and E.J. Speed, two men who play on the defensive side of the ball for the Indianapolis Colts. Good ball players. They have a podcast calledThe Trenches, and they say ‘Zaire and E.J. clap back at the media’ and they use my picture, okay, in the thing, as if I’m the only human that was talking about all the problems that were happening in your locker room, okay? Your locker room. The one that had people missing treatment and gambling on the team and being late to meetings and saying they don’t work hard and quarterbacks stepping out of… and I’m the problem? Okay. Okay. I think that’s a potential part of the issue with the Colts.”

He then argued that the current roster has turned the team into losers, continuing, “The way people are getting paid and the way people act, you would think they’re winning Super Bowls. No, they’re not. They haven’t won the NFC South since 2014. We got people wondering if they’re even working hard. That’s in their locker room, not mine.”

While Franklin and Speed never personally mentioned McAfee, he didn't shy away from calling them out... while congratulating himself.

"I'm in Indianapolis. I'm at the games. I see the things that are taking place," he said. "It used to be great. It used to be great. I was very lucky, very small, small, small part of very good teams back in the day, but yeah, used to be a good team. Used to be somebody that was worried, you know, whenever the Colts are coming to town. Now, it's like people are almost circling the Colts again for a dub, which is not great. That's their locker room. That's not mine. Now, they don't like me in that locker room from what I've understood and I've heard, and I'm cool with that. Now, I checked back for Zaire Franklin. You know, I went through his college record as well at Syracuse. Not a lot of wins there either."

Franklin and Speed do not appear to have responded at this time, but fans have had plenty to say.

Whose side are Colts fans on?

While some sided with McAfee, the public sentiment was overwhelmingly on Franklin's side.

Others pointed out that McAfee was, in fact, one of the members of the media who were blasting Richardson, only to change his tune later.

One fan criticized McAfee for bringing up Franklin's college record.

Another said McAfee didn't offer constructive criticism, like other Colts alums did:

Other fans criticized McAfee for being too emotional, or his lack of professionalism.

One fan specifically took the entire situation to be a sign of how much the team respects Richardson.

But not everyone came down on Franklin's side; others went to bat for McAfee.