Pat McAfee Claims University of Utah Made Him ‘Uncomfortable’ as He Alludes to Charlie Kirk Shooting
· Yahoo Sports
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NEED TO KNOW
- Pat McAfee had an “uncomfortable” time at the University of Utah, he said
- The College GameDay co-host shared his take on feeling unwelcome while doing the show from the Salt Lake City school last weekend
- McAfee referenced the assassination of Charlie Kirk while discussing his experience
Pat McAfee said he is never going back to Utah, after his recent visit for College GameDay.
The ESPN personality shared a negative review of last weekend’s trip while on his show on Monday, Oct. 26 — and referenced the September 2025 shooting death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
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In advance of McAfee’s arrival in Salt Lake City, the university shared a video of students doing impressions of the polarizing sportscaster.
“Did not enjoy University of Utah,” McAfee, 39, said. “You know why I didn’t like it mostly? Right before I go out there, I see the University of Utah’s Instagram page. They put out, do an impression of Pat McAfee, and one kid goes, ‘Ah, he’s corny.’ Another kid calls me creepy.”
Pat McAfeeCredit: Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty
He continued, “If these kids would have done this on their own blogs, all good. Everybody’s taking shots at me, anyways, for everything. I get it. If the two ladies that were hosting that put that out on their own blog, I’d be okay with it. You’re allowed to do what you do.”
“The university puts that out? Like as I’m about to go out and do an infomercial for the place?” McAfee said. “And then I’m walking in front of thousands of these people. This is how the university feels about it? It’s an uncomfortable feeling.”
The former NFL punter then alluded to Kirk’s assassination at a separate Utah university.
“I thought to myself, has anything, like, really scary happened at a college gathering in the state of Utah recently?” he said. “Do we think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts, as a university? I don’t know.”
For McAfee, who makes a reported $30 million a year at ESPN through 2028 and whose reps are negotiating a contract extension for double that annually, giving away millions of dollars each week for kids to kick 33-yard field goals every Saturday morning has become part of his appeal.
But last Saturday in Utah, he said he didn’t get the feeling it was mutual.
“There was a lot of mixed feelings for me going out there, and then obviously the kicker goes, ‘Only $1 million?’ ” McAfee recalled about the female student who was given multiple attempts at making the field goal, only to miss each time.
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The previous week when the program visited BYU, McAfee gave away $3 million for the winning kick.
“It’s like, all right, I hate this place. I hate this place,” McAfee summarized. “They got a good football team, though. They got a good football team. But I’ve never been more uncomfortable, honestly, in my life, walking in front of a group of people after watching their university put out a post, basically dogging me just moments before.”
In the wake of the retired Indianapolis Colts player’s criticism, the University of Utah apologized on Monday for the video.
“University staff are responsible for reviewing and posting content on official social media accounts and we take full accountability for that decision,” the school said. “University officials have reached out to Pat to express appreciation and regret. We sincerely apologize for creating any perception that Pat was unsafe or unwelcome on our campus. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pat and the entire GameDay crew are always welcome at the University of Utah and we deeply appreciate the opportunity ESPN provides to showcase our university and community.”
Read the original article on People