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Pat McAfee is still discussing his University of Utah crashout
Pat McAfee is clearly still triggered by his experience at the University of Utah. Nearly a week after College GameDay, McAfee is still litigating his crash-out over his time at the school.
In a lengthy statement posted to social media, former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee again played the victim card by posting a 741-word explanation of why he was so disturbed by his experience in Utah.
On Monday, McAfee said on his radio show that he would never return to the school after his experience of hosting College GameDay there over the weekend for the school’s matchup against Houston.
Pat McAfee shared a lengthy statement about why he was so triggered by his experience on the University of Utah campus
According to McAfee, his discomfort actually had nothing to do with the University of Utah itself, but rather an experience he had at the University of Tennessee a year prior.
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
The overarching response to McAfee’s post has been largely consistent. Death threats are abhorrent, and no one should have to deal with them. At the same time, it’s part and parcel of being a public figure — one journalist suggested he wouldn’t last a day as a local female sports reporter — and he’s also choosing to engage with it.
Children dealing with cyberbullies in school are taught to log off and look away — McAfee is choosing the opposite. Ultimately, two things appear to be true simultaneously: McAfee is on the receiving end of intense and sometimes unjust criticism, but not only is he choosing to engage with it, but in an unhealthy way, i.e., conflating playful ribbing from a group of college students camping out at the crack of dawn to see your show with the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Based on his own statement, though, it seems as though the initial security increase had more to do with GameDay being the first mass-campus gathering P.K. (post-Kirk) and less to do with his divisive personality. In his brain, however, it appears he’s made a connection between that situation and the hate he receives on social media.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a public figure act like this
— drew (@ImNotOwned) October 29, 2026
Am I stupid or does he admit to taking threats on his life from DMs and while in Tennessee and project them entirely onto the university of utah?
You dragged them through the mud and this was your big evidence reveal?
— Hunter Mecum (@hunter_mecum) October 29, 2026
At this point, there are plenty of McAfee think pieces out there, so we won’t regurgitate the talking points. What we will say is this: the current tenor around McAfee and sports fans at large is not sustainable long-term.