In the wake of comments — in which he alluded to Charlie Kirk's assassination — made by Pat McAfee after the controversial Utah College GameDay episode, a new revelation about the FBI's recommendation for the former NFL punter has emerged.
On his show after the episode of College GameDay at the University of Utah on Saturday, Oct. 24, McAfee didn't hold back when talking about his annoyance with the school. For one, students were “talking trash” about his “corny” shirt-ripping tradition, while a student in his kicking contest wasn't satisfied with the $1 million prize.
“I thought to myself, Has anything really scary happened at, like, a college gathering in the state of Utah recently?” he asked on his show. “Do you think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts at a university? I don't know. So it was just a lot of mixed feelings for me going out there. Then the kicker goes, ‘Only one million dollars?’ Only one million dollars? It’s like, alright, I hate this place. They have a good football team, though.”
However, Utah's reaction to him is why the FBI allegedly advised him to wear a bulletproof vest. Sources told Front Office Sports that the week after Kirk's assassination, the FBI advised the GameDay analyst to wear a bulletproof vest. ESPN issued a statement to the outlet, promising that they “take issues involving their safety seriously” in regard to its talent.
“The safety and security of our on-air team, crew and fans is paramount at College GameDay,” an ESPN spokeswoman said. “We are committed to ensuring a safe environment, and given the very real threats that members of our team face, we take issues involving their safety seriously. We support Pat and recognize the very real and valid concerns he has around safety and security.”
College GameDay will next visit the University of Indiana. We'll see how McAfee is received following his controversial appearance in Utah last week.