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Utah's remarks about Pat McAfee spark angry reaction from sports analyst; university issues apology
Sports analyst Pat McAfee called out the University of Utah over a video of students doing impressions of him before College GameDay.
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Sports analyst Pat McAfee called out the University of Utah over a video of students doing impressions of him before College GameDay, prompting an apology from the university.
McAfee's complaints came on Saturday during the ESPN show. He described the video as tasteless, coming from the university's social media handle. As per McAfee, the video was mocking towards him. He even brought up the 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk at the Utah Valley University and said that the video had made him feel ‘unsafe’.
University of Utah issues apology
The University of Utah issued an apology to McAfee, saying “Our goal during the visit was to create lighthearted engagement regarding Pat being back on campus, but we missed the mark. University staff are responsible for reviewing and posting content on social media accounts and we take full responsibility for that decision.”
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The school noted that McAfee and the entire GameDay crew were always welcome on campus, addressing the 39-year-old's concerns about feeling unsafe.
What did University of Utah students say about Pat McAfee?
As per McAfee, Utah's Instagram page put out a video where one kid called him ‘corny’ and another said he was ‘creepy’. McAfee noted that it would be okay if the content was posted on a personal blog, but the video being put out from the university's official handle was upsetting.
“They put out a video, keep doing impressions of Pat McAfee. And one kid goes, 'Oh, he's corny.' Another kid calls me creepy. If these kids would have done this on their own blogs, all good. I mean, everybody's taking shots at me anyways for everything. I get it,” he said on his show.
McAfee went on to call it an ‘uncomfortable feeling’ and said he was getting a ‘lot of shrapnel’ from different places. The sports analyst said that this was the first time in his life he was experiencing something like this, noting it made him feel ‘weird’.
The video had asked Utah college students to give their best Pat McAfee impressions. One student said he'd probably say something ‘corny’ like ‘Houston we got a problem’. Give me the Utah Utes.' Others went on to mimic McAfee and say ‘Go Utes’. Yet another student urged the sports commentator to keep his shirt on, noting that they were college kids and did not want to see him rip his shirt off during the game.
