Pat McAfee says the backlash that followed his recent University of Utah controversy has spilled far beyond criticism, with the ESPN personality posting screenshots of threatening messages he says he’s received online and saying the attacks have even reached his family.
On Wednesday night, McAfee wrote on X that he has been keeping his distance from his mentions and direct messages since the latest wave of controversy.
“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,” McAfee wrote.
He said the ugliness has not stopped at him. In the same post, McAfee pointed to comments involving his wife and children.
“The things that get said about what my daughter and son and wife deserve are all rather wild as well,” he wrote.
The latest flare-up traces back to Monday’s episode of his weekly show, when McAfee took aim at the Utes after last Saturday’s “College GameDay” broadcast from the University of Utah. He said an official university social media video mocking him left him feeling unsafe and “uncomfortable.”
“I did not enjoy the University of Utah,” McAfee said Monday. He added, “The university puts that out? Like, as I’m about to go out and do an infomercial for the place?”
He went even further when describing what it felt like to walk out in front of the crowd.
“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.”
The university removed the post and later issued an apology, saying McAfee and the “GameDay” crew were always welcome on campus.
“Our goal during the visit was to create lighthearted engagement regarding Pat being back on campus, but we missed the mark,” the statement said. “University staff are responsible for reviewing and posting content on official social media accounts and we take full accountability for that decision.”
McAfee also used Wednesday’s message to revisit the security operation around “College GameDay” at the University of Tennessee in September last year, coming just days after the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem. He had brought up that killing on his show earlier this week.
“Has anything like really scary happened at like a college gathering in the state of Utah recently?” McAfee asked rhetorically on Monday.
In his Wednesday post, McAfee said that trip involved the FBI, Disney security, state and local police, and campus police working together. He also said there were FBI snipers on hand, but clarified that he did not believe the FBI was the group that recommended a bulletproof vest.
“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,” McAfee wrote.
He called the whole scene “surreal” and said the death threats he had received were part of the security conversation that morning.
“I never felt safer and never felt more appreciative of the people that were around me that morning,” he said.
McAfee also addressed criticism tied to earlier controversies, including comments he made about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif during the 2024 Paris Olympics. He said some coverage left out what he described as the empathetic part of his remarks, which he believes added to the backlash.
Even with the criticism, McAfee said he understands he is not perfect and that not everyone will agree with him. He also said he remains thankful for what sports has given him.
“I am to talk about sports and care about the future of sports. I owe everything to sports,” he wrote.
He closed by saying sports should still be a unifying force, even with the noise around him.
“I love sports because it’s unifying. That’s all I’m ever trying to be… actually.”
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