Pat McAfee has slammed ESPN’s plans to present Prince Harry with the Pat Tillman Service Award at the upcoming ESPYs.
Between “The Pat McAfee Show” On Friday, McAfee accused his network of “trying to piss people off” by presenting the Duke of Sussex with an award named after the late NFL safety turned Army Ranger.
The award, given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the world, is a reflection of Tillman’s achievements.
“It goes to Prince Harry,” McAfee said. “I don’t think he’s a prince anymore? I told you not to call me that. Look, why would the ESPYs do this?”
Boston Connor, a member of McAfee’s team, called the decision to give the award to Harry “stupid,” while others said the award should have gone to “someone from the United States.”
“This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he added.
Former NFL player and co-host AJ Hawk questioned McAfee, asking him to clarify that the award was given to “athletes,” to which the show’s host explained that the award is given to “people who have dedicated their lives to sports or something like that.”
Prince Harry’s selection as the recipient of the Pat Tillman Award left McAfee with an unpleasant feeling.
“I know when you do something like this, there’s an immediate reaction from human beings, from sports fans, from people with common sense and intelligence, that’s, ‘Hey, don’t lump our f****** guy in with that guy.’
“But I wonder if his aides knew that, ‘You’ve publicly nominated me for this award. You’re basically saying to everyone who considers themselves American, ‘This is bullshit,’ especially for something like a sports award. I think he knew that,” McAfee said. “Didn’t they expect that?”
McAfee, who said he doesn’t know much about Prince Harry beyond “South Park” episodes and “The Crown,” did not mention the prince’s role in the creation of the Invictus Games in his rant.
The prince, who stepped down as a royal in 2020, founded the Invictus Games in 2014 as a Paralympic-style multi-sport event for injured military and veterans.
The network announced that “Harry will be presented with the award at a ceremony on July 11 in recognition of his tireless efforts to positively impact the veteran community through the power of sport.”
“This is for our entire military community,” Harry said after learning of the honour.
Harry also served in the British Army for 10 years, including two tours of duty in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter pilot and forward air controller.
The announcement was made Thursday by ESPN, which also announced “special recipients” for the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage (Steve Gleason) and the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance (Dawn Staley).
The award was established in 2014 to recognize someone who continues Tillman’s legacy by giving back to others and having a deep connection to sports.
Past Pat Tillman Award recipients include Jake Wood (2018), Kirsty Ennis (2019), Kim Clavell (2020), Marcus Rashford (2021), Gretchen Evans (2022) and the Buffalo Bills training staff (2023).
