ESPN’s popular college football pregame show, “College Gameday,” will return next week when a crew including the always-polarizing Pat McAfee heads to Dublin, Ireland.
McAfee has become a big name in sports media, but his style and demeanor are not to everyone’s taste, nowhere was this more evident than on College GameDay, where he became a love-it-or-hate-it panelist.
So it’s not surprising that McAfee haters used the opportunity to speak out about him. Joint Instagram post McAfee, College GameDay, the ESPN college football account, photographed him shirtless on the set of GameDay.
What made this situation particularly noteworthy was McAfee’s desire to speak out and respond to some of those trolling him online.
The sports media personality responded: According to a report from Awful Announcing:one commenter posted, “Damn, he pisses me off.”
“I’ve been with me a long time. You’re not alone. The good news is, I probably hate you, too,” McAfee responded.
When someone called McAfee a redneck and said he should keep his shirt on during the show, McAfee fired back with a sarcastic comment.
“It’s a real shame… I’m sorry you’ve stopped watching the show. Maybe we can get you back this year,” he said of viewership loss. “And then we’ll have three seasons in a row with the highest ratings ever. We need you.”
The 2023 college football season averaged 2 million viewers, making it the second-highest-watched season for ESPN’s College GameDay since 2011.
This was just short of the 2.1 million average viewers the show recorded in 2022.
When another commenter said he had vomited, McAfee responded: “Maybe it was the mirror you walked past.”
Love him or hate him, McAfee will be back on “College GameDay” this year after there was a bit of uncertainty as to whether he would return in 2024.
McAfee suggested in October that he might leave the show after the 2023 season, but announced in July that he would return to one of ESPN’s most popular shows.
McAfee licensed the daily programming through a separate deal with Worldwide Leader In Sports to bring “The Pat McAfee Show” to the network in 2023.
