Pat McAfee hits back at New York Times criticism in shirtless rant on live TV
Pat McAfee hits back at New York Times criticism in shirtless rant on live TV
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Jeremy GoldsteinSun, October 25, 2026 at 3:29 PM UTC
Pat McAfee is used frequently by ESPN -Credit:Johnnie Izquierdo, Getty Images (Johnnie Izquierdo, Getty Images)
ESPN's College GameDay traveled to Utah this week for the matchup between No. 10 Aggies and No. 14 Houston.
Pat McAfee, positioned at the center of the GameDay panel, fielded viewer calls and removed his shirt at 7 am. Online audiences are showing mounting frustration with McAfee: the $30 million-a-year personality faces constant ridicule in social media threads for repeatedly going shirtless and his apparent limited understanding of college football.
McAfee, displaying increased sensitivity to criticism, addressed this after once again removing his shirt on Saturday. He declared: "The New York Times is always saying it!' This a------- is shirtless at 9:02 a.m. Eastern!' Sorry, Coach. I'm ruining the whole sport; I'm ruining the whole sport because of this."
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While Utah supporters may have applauded, viewers responding to posts from both ESPN and Awful Announcing on X expressed different sentiments.
"It's not just the New York Times a--hole! We all are sick of it," one wrote.
"He's not ruining the whole sport. But the airtime ESPN insists on giving him is ruining this show," another stated.
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Multiple commenters highlighted his apparent growing defensiveness. "Pat has become visibly more and more thin-skinned to criticism and chatter online," someone noted.
"I don't know if letting people know so clearly that it's getting to him is the best strategy," a different audience member observed.
Here's McAfee's full address to Utah supporters. "Today is another time to make a statement that the Big 12 is a Big problem for the Big 10 and the SEC," he started.
"Let's have a morning here. It's a little chilly. It's a little breezy. It feels like it's a perfect time for college football to celebrate the hell out of life. They're chanting, 'Take it off.' I will not do that. I am not a puppet. I will not take my shirt off.
"The University of Utah Instagram posted something last night. Some kid out here said I was gonna say something corny; one kid said I should stop taking my shirt off in front of college kids.
"But when you got thousands of people yelling at you to take your clothes off, I don't know what you're supposed to do... I'm gonna keep these on; I'm not gonna listen. Let's have a fantastic, fully shirted..."
Fans then booed, but McAfee rewarded them by taking off his shirt. "I guess the energy of college football is not supposed to be one if a man gets shirtless at 7 am in Utah," McAfee continued.
"It's supposed to be wild. It's supposed to be chaotic. It's supposed to be the best atmosphere in all of sports, no matter what country you're in. College football is the best."
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
