It’s bad enough that Pat McAfee is so omnipresent and obnoxious, but must he also be so thin-skinned?
The ESPN honoree used Monday’s episode of his daily talk show to complain about the bad experience he had at the University of Utah when he was there for College Game Day last weekend. Specifically, McAfee was annoyed because the school had posted a video (now deleted) in which a few students were asked to do an impression of him. “He’s going to say a corny line,” said one student who predicted McAfee’s success. Match day take. “He’ll say, ‘Houston, we have a problem. Give me the Utah Utes.'” For the record, McAfee picked the visiting Cougars in Saturday’s game, but Utah won 21-13.
Another student made fun of McAfee for taking off his shirt on set. “Brother, Pat, we love you, brother, but keep your shirt on. Nobody’s trying to see that. Who cares. They’re college kids, brother. Keep your shirt on, buddy.” I have to admit: those young Utes had him killed.
Perhaps accuracy is why it stuck in McAfee’s throat. In a split-screen view featuring new animation from AJ Hawk – “standing mode” was included in the last patch – the former punter spent a few minutes dwelling on how some students gently roasting him was comparable to the time Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University last year. No, really.
A transcription of the relevant part:
Do you know why I didn’t like it in particular? Right before I go, I see the University of Utah Instagram page, okay? The university — it’s ours — released a video: “Could you do a Pat McAfee impression? And one kid says, “Ah, he’s cheesy.” » Another child calls me “scary.” If these kids had done this on their own blogs, everything would be fine. I mean, everyone shoots me for everything anyway, I get it. If the two ladies who hosted this posted this on their own blog, I’d be OK with that. The university is publishing this, when I’m about to go out and do a publicity piece for the place? And then I walk in front of thousands of these people – this is what the university thinks about this? It’s an uncomfortable feeling: I get a lot of shrapnel from many places. The university publishes this? It’s something I’ve never experienced in my entire life, so it bothered me a little, made me feel a little weird.
And then I thought, did anything really scary happen at a college gathering at Utah State recently? Do we think we should amplify the reasons why people hate me, as a university? I don’t know. So it was a lot of mixed feelings for me going there. And then obviously the kicker says “Only $1 million?” It’s like, okay, I hate this place. But they have a good football team. But honestly, I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my life, walking in front of a group of people after seeing their university post something that was harassing me just moments before. I’ve seen a lot of people say, “They didn’t even say something that mean.” » It’s the university that publishes this. This is not a blog. This is the real place we are. So I hope I never go to that place. I think I have COVID or something every time Match day go back, if I’m still part of Match day.
(…)
THE New York Timesdo what you gotta do, I guess. All the sports media tabloids quote me out of context, they construct a narrative about me. But there are people who really hate me. I really hate my guts. And I understand that, I guess. It’s just part of what life is, especially because I have a lot of things that are very hateful about me. I can definitely understand that. But the university brought some of it to light, right before I went to talk about your school, specifically what happened 40 miles south, in Salt Lake City, a little over a year ago? I didn’t appreciate that. I was very, very uncomfortable.
“The kicker” refers to a kicking contest held during Match daywhere a student selected by lottery attempts to make a basket and win money. The student participant from Utah was referring to the fact that the week before, a student from rival BYU got $3 million, because Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and his business partner added to the prize pool. If you watch the video, it was clearly a joke – you know, the kind of thing Pat McAfee tries to do in between apologizing for lines that don’t land.
The Instagram video also clearly affected McAfee’s comments on set. At the beginning of Match dayhe made sure to mention the Instagram post in which a student made fun of him for always taking his shirt off, before, surprise, taking his shirt off for the crowd. “New York Times I already say it: this asshole is shirtless at 9:02 a.m. Eastern,” he yelled afterward.
Of course, that bastard was also appeased. “The safety and security of our on-air team, crew and fans is paramount to College Game Day“said ESPN in a pathetic statement, via The Athletic. “We are committed to ensuring a safe environment, and given the very real threats our team members face, we take questions regarding their safety seriously. We support Pat and recognize his very real and valid safety and security concerns. »
McAfee even got an apology from the school. “Our goal during the visit was to create a light-hearted engagement regarding Pat’s return to campus, but we missed the mark,” the university said in a statement. “University officials have contacted Pat to express their appreciation and regret. We sincerely apologize for creating the impression that Pat was unsafe or unwelcome on our campus. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
The guy who once reported a random student over a false rumor is now worried about his safety. No one needs to apologize for making fun of the guy whose job it is to do a Frank the Tank impersonation to entertain people born in 2007. Your target audience is telling you that shtick is getting old, Pat. At this point you are Bert Kreischer with more CTE. But I also see a positive side to this saga: even though his terrible music might suggest otherwise, McAfee clearly cares what people think of him. Maybe if other parts of the country tell him he’s a one-note hacker, he’ll eventually leave.
Gn sports
