Pat McAfee offers first comments on Utah controversy and criticism

Pat McAfee has been in the eye of the storm this week after his comments about what he experienced when College GameDay visited the University of Utah campus.

The omnipresent ESPN personality drew criticism and mockery for comparing himself to assassinated political activist Charlie Kirk because he was made to feel uncomfortable after a video produced by a university student group showcased Utah college students doing meek impressions of him.

While McAfee has a regular habit of feuds, vendettas, and grudges, the story has transcended the typical polarization he revels in, as the public tide turned against him in a substantial way for the first time. His comments were widely seen as out of touch with reality, especially when ESPN defended him and the university apologized for the video, which was well and truly harmless.

One of McAfee’s trademarks is that when anyone takes a swing at him, he traditionally swings back harder. See his repeated digs at the New York Times on College GameDay after they noted his larger-than-life presence on the show and how it has been radically transformed around him.

But instead of addressing the controversy on his show, McAfee posted a lengthy social media post sharing his perspective.

The post touches on a number of different things, including why the Utah video impacted him so greatly, his side of the report that the FBI advised him to wear a bulletproof vest after Kirk’s assassination, and the turning point where he thinks the criticism of him went to a new level.

It’s been a fun October.. excited to get to Halloween. Here’s a couple fun screenshots from this month.

I don’t know if Karey from Derry is real or not but, the picture on the left is from a very real man in Ohio.

I’ve stayed away from my mentions and DM’s this month since these back to back days but.. I’m sure if I went in there now, I’d find some wishes for and threats of death for me.

“Don’t read them.” They’re everywhere.

Annnd.. They still exist though right? I just don’t know the person is in Ohio then? That’s where I’m at now. So I do get a bit fucked up when a couple days after The New York Times releases a “WE ARE ALLOWED TO AND SHOULD HATE THIS GUY” piece, a University puts a video out from their own page, indicating “we think he’s a corny creep here.” It’s a weird time. The things that get said about what my daughter and son and wife deserve are all rather wild as well.

I haven’t talked to anybody about what the days were like leading up to Tennessee’s GameDay last year. There’s been some misreporting but in the ball park articles. Everybody in the “security” world was worried of a copycat incident potentially happening. GameDay was a few days out and we were the next huge gathering on a campus. The world, in front of the entire internet, just proved that we had gotten to a rather extreme place.

The FBI.. alongside, Disney security, Tennessee State Police, Knoxville PD, University Police, everybody in area, all had the very same goal to protect the shit out of the area. FBI snipers were sent down there, huge presence of police.. it was a surreal moment. The conversation about the death threats I had been receiving in life was definitely a huge topic. I don’t think it was the FBI that suggested the Bullet Proof Vest, but it was certainly an idea presented by one of the security groups. We had no idea what to expect. Nobody had been in that type of situation before. Everybody wanted the best for everybody. I never felt safer and never felt more appreciative of the people that were around me that morning including the students that came out and did WAY more than they could’ve ever imagined for my soul.

How’d we get here? I had to wrestle with that a bit. FBI’s sending snipers so me and the lads don’t get shot. That’s crazy. I don’t know if they teach how you’re supposed to handle these types of things in classes or something but, I was a bit rattled by the current reality of my World.

I think what I realized was, when I talked about the Algerian Olympic Gold Medal boxer, and then I was HEADLINE Quoted and Captioned by platforms with rather large influence over certain communities, they left out the massive empathy part of the conversation that I had about the entire subject. I was labeled and immediately targeted. Such is life I guess.. since then, every mistake, misstep or misquote relaunches A LOT of folks into a frenzy of me being the worst person on Earth who needs to be eliminated, and they gain more and more folks who want me unalived or as they actually say it “Kirked.”

I was created on the internet. I’ve been “cooked” and shit talked and criticized since I have memories. I am no where near perfect.. and there’s no way everybody is gonna agree with me but I had no idea that this is just what life would become.

I’m trying my best in real time but.. I am to talk about sports and care about the future of sports. I owe everything to sports. I’m grateful as hell to do what I do. I literally try to love every minute of the incredible opportunities I get to experience but.. it’s certainly all a much different life than I could’ve ever expected.

I try to give everything I have, all the time.. I am very sorry to those that despise me.

The video is how I opened The Tennessee show.. I put on a USA Sports Coat and celebrated Ball. I love sports because it’s unifying. That’s all I’m ever trying to be… actually.

& Connor.. I LOVE YOU BROTHER, I’m sorry I’ve brought you lads into all of this as well.

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 29, 2026

McAfee’s post reads in full:

It’s been a fun October.. excited to get to Halloween. Here’s a couple fun screenshots from this month.

I don’t know if Karey from Derry is real or not but, the picture on the left is from a very real man in Ohio.

I’ve stayed away from my mentions and DM’s this month since these back to back days but.. I’m sure if I went in there now, I’d find some wishes for and threats of death for me.

“Don’t read them.” They’re everywhere.

Annnd.. They still exist though right? I just don’t know the person is in Ohio then? That’s where I’m at now. So I do get a bit fucked up when a couple days after The New York Times releases a “WE ARE ALLOWED TO AND SHOULD HATE THIS GUY” piece, a University puts a video out from their own page, indicating “we think he’s a corny creep here.” It’s a weird time. The things that get said about what my daughter and son and wife deserve are all rather wild as well.

I haven’t talked to anybody about what the days were like leading up to Tennessee’s GameDay last year. There’s been some misreporting but in the ball park articles. Everybody in the “security” world was worried of a copycat incident potentially happening. GameDay was a few days out and we were the next huge gathering on a campus. The world, in front of the entire internet, just proved that we had gotten to a rather extreme place.

The FBI.. alongside, Disney security, Tennessee State Police, Knoxville PD, University Police, everybody in area, all had the very same goal to protect the shit out of the area. FBI snipers were sent down there, huge presence of police.. it was a surreal moment. The conversation about the death threats I had been receiving in life was definitely a huge topic. I don’t think it was the FBI that suggested the Bullet Proof Vest, but it was certainly an idea presented by one of the security groups. We had no idea what to expect. Nobody had been in that type of situation before. Everybody wanted the best for everybody. I never felt safer and never felt more appreciative of the people that were around me that morning including the students that came out and did WAY more than they could’ve ever imagined for my soul.

How’d we get here? I had to wrestle with that a bit. FBI’s sending snipers so me and the lads don’t get shot. That’s crazy. I don’t know if they teach how you’re supposed to handle these types of things in classes or something but, I was a bit rattled by the current reality of my World.

I think what I realized was, when I talked about the Algerian Olympic Gold Medal boxer, and then I was HEADLINE Quoted and Captioned by platforms with rather large influence over certain communities, they left out the massive empathy part of the conversation that I had about the entire subject. I was labeled and immediately targeted. Such is life I guess.. since then, every mistake, misstep or misquote relaunches A LOT of folks into a frenzy of me being the worst person on Earth who needs to be eliminated, and they gain more and more folks who want me unalived or as they actually say it “Kirked.”

I was created on the internet. I’ve been “cooked” and shit talked and criticized since I have memories. I am no where near perfect.. and there’s no way everybody is gonna agree with me but I had no idea that this is just what life would become.

I’m trying my best in real time but.. I am to talk about sports and care about the future of sports. I owe everything to sports. I’m grateful as hell to do what I do. I literally try to love every minute of the incredible opportunities I get to experience but.. it’s certainly all a much different life than I could’ve ever expected.

I try to give everything I have, all the time.. I am very sorry to those that despise me.

The video is how I opened The Tennessee show.. I put on a USA Sports Coat and celebrated Ball. I love sports because it’s unifying. That’s all I’m ever trying to be… actually.

& Connor.. I LOVE YOU BROTHER, I’m sorry I’ve brought you lads into all of this as well.

A few points are worth pulling from this statement.

First, anyone should be able to empathize with someone who is bothered by receiving threats regularly. That kind of behavior should never be normalized, whether it’s Pat McAfee or any athlete, celebrity, politician, or anybody else. Second, you can understand how harrowing the scene at Knoxville must have been coming off the Charlie Kirk assassination at a college campus and how on edge everyone must have been that day. The large security presence was certainly warranted.

But McAfee may lose some people along the way because he again misquotes the original video from the Utah students. No one called him a “corny creep” in the video. One student joked that he shouldn’t say something “corny” like a “Houston, we have a problem” joke. And the word “creep” was never used. Another student jokingly encouraged him to keep his shirt on, which he naturally did not.

He also misrepresents Jerry Brewer’s column in The Athletic. The depiction of “WE ARE ALLOWED TO AND SHOULD HATE THIS GUY” couldn’t be further from what the article actually is, which is an examination of how the show has changed since McAfee has become its main character and why there are critiques of the show in spite of its ratings growth.

His comments about the Imane Khelif controversy, where he made false gender claims about the Algerian Olympic boxer as part of a much larger discussion around her gold medal victory in the 2024 Olympics, are also interesting. McAfee tried to present a unifying front on the controversial topic, but even he might argue he didn’t land the plane.

However, the bizarre part is that McAfee seems to peg that moment as a turning point for his public persona, and that ever since, “every mistake, misstep or misquote relaunches A LOT of folks into a frenzy of me being the worst person on Earth who needs to be eliminated.”

There’s no public evidence that is actually the case, even though that may be how he feels. In fact, Pat McAfee has been involved in many controversies before and after the Khelif commentary. Those include, but are not limited to, his comments about Caitlin Clark, his platforming of Aaron Rodgers (particularly with his insidious remarks about Jimmy Kimmel), the Mary Kate Cornett controversy, and his collaborations with Donald Trump.

Like Pat McAfee himself, the statement is full of raw emotion, joy, sorrow, contradictions, and more.