ESPN star Pat McAfee appeared to reference the killing of Charlie Kirk as he ripped the University of Utah over a social media post he says made him feel “very, very uncomfortable” before Saturdays “College GameDay” broadcast.
McAfee said he saw a video on the universitys Instagram account shortly before going on air in Salt Lake City. The post asked students to do impressions of him, he said, and included comments calling him “corny” and “creepy.”
The video has since been removed from the universitys social media accounts.
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The former NFL punter said he would not have minded if students had shared the remarks themselves, but he took issue with the university posting them before he walked in front of thousands of fans.
“The university puts that out, like as Im about to go out and do an infomercial for the place, and then Im walking in front of thousands of these people,” McAfee said Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“This is how the university feels about it. Its an uncomfortable feeling.”
McAfee said the post “set me off a little bit” and made him feel “a little weird.” He then appeared to reference the September 2025 shooting of Kirk, the conservative activist who was killed during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.
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“Has anything like really scary happened at like a college gathering in the state of Utah recently?” McAfee asked. “Like, do we think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts as a university?”
Later in the segment, McAfee again pointed to “what happened 40 miles south of Salt Lake City a little over a year ago,” saying the universitys post added to the hostility he faces just before he went on air to promote the school.
“I was very, very uncomfortable,” he said. “I think it made me not have the greatest morning.”
The University of Utah apologized in a statement posted to its official Instagram account, saying its goal was to create “lighthearted engagement” about McAfees return to campus, but it “missed the mark.”
“University staff are responsible for reviewing and posting content on official social media accounts and we take full accountability for that decision,” the school said.
The university said officials had reached out to McAfee to express their appreciation and regret.
“We sincerely apologize for creating any perception that Pat was unsafe or unwelcome on our campus. Nothing could be further from the truth,” the statement said.
The school added that McAfee and the entire crew are always welcome at the university. It said ESPNs pregame show has visited its campus seven times and that it has enjoyed a positive relationship with the crew.
McAfee said he knew some people believed the students comments were not particularly harsh, but he kept coming back to who posted the video.
“It
