Pat McAfee may skip Utah if College GameDay returns

McAfee didn't let Saturday go. By Monday he was still on it, and the college football beat had the full rundown.

Chris Vannini

@ChrisVannini

Pat McAfee says he was "uncomfortable" during Utah College GameDay and alluded to the Charlie Kirk killing. This all comes after a school video of students commenting about him upset him. Also said he might not show up if GameDay goes back there. t.co/WP1JGecjPG

Here's what set him off. Right before GameDay went live in Salt Lake City, McAfee saw a post from the official University of Utah account, made with Utah Student Experience, in which students did impressions of him and called him "corny" and "creepy." The school has since deleted it. His issue wasn't that college kids roasted him. That's half the point of GameDay. His issue was who posted it. "If these kids would have done this on their own blogs, all good," he said. "The university puts that out, like, as I'm about to go out and do an infomercial for the place, and then I'm walking in front of thousands of these people."

Then he took it somewhere heavier. McAfee called the experience "very, very uncomfortable" and pointed to "what happened 40 miles south of Salt Lake City a little over a year ago," which is a clear reference to Charlie Kirk being shot and killed at Utah Valley University in Orem. That's the line that turned a petty GameDay beef into a real story. Some people hear it as a guy who stands in front of thousands of strangers every Saturday saying he felt unsafe. Others hear a $30 million TV host who couldn't take a student video calling him corny.

He also didn't keep it subtle on the show itself. During picks he took Houston over Utah, said "ten times out of ten," and signed off with "I'll never see you again, hopefully." Utah won the game anyway. That only made the crowd happier.

Matt Jones

@KySportsRadio

What a headline Pat needs to slow down just a little…

Awful Announcing

@awfulannouncing

Pat McAfee ‘very, very uncomfortable’ at University of Utah due to light criticism, alludes to Charlie Kirk assassination t.co/c0UO6XlXmb

Even folks who like Pat thought he went too far, and plenty of people online agreed he needs to pump the brakes a little. The PR problem is real. GameDay goes where the big games are, and Utah has been a regular contender for years. If the Utes have a big week in the Big 12, ESPN won't stay away from Salt Lake just because one of its hosts holds a grudge.

So the network was asked the obvious question: what happens to the Utah relationship now? ESPN answered, and Utah was asked too.

Chris Vannini

@ChrisVannini

I asked ESPN and Utah for comment about McAfee and the relationship with Utah moving forward. This was ESPN's response. t.co/WP1JGebM08

Next up is the schedule. If GameDay ever lands back in Salt Lake City, everyone will be checking whether McAfee is on the desk, and whether the student section has new signs ready for him. Odds are they'll already have them made.