Pat McAfee was urged to wear a bulletproof vest by the FBI in the days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a report has claimed.
It comes after the ESPN star documented his uncomfortable experience at the University of Utah on Saturday. He called out students for ‘talking trash’ and calling him ‘corny,’ while alluding to Kirk’s murder 45 miles away at Utah Valley University.
Front Office Sports has now reported that McAfee was advised by the FBI to wear a bulletproof vest the week after Kirk was assassinated.
McAfee, who frequently receives threatening messages about himself and his family on social media and often exposes trolls on his accounts, is often in front of huge crowds on college campuses across America on College GameDay.
‘The safety and security of our on-air team, crew and fans is paramount at College GameDay,’ said an ESPN spokeswoman.
‘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.’
Pat McAfee was urged to wear a bulletproof vest by the FBI after Charlie Kirk’s assassination
McAfee alluded to Kirk’s murder at Utah Valley University last year after his own negative experience at the University of Utah
The ESPN star revealed on Monday he did not enjoy his visit to the University of Utah for the most recent episode of College Gameday on Saturday and blamed the school by invoking Kirk’s murder.
‘I’ve never been more uncomfortable, honestly, in my life, walking in front of a group of people after watching their university put out a post, basically dogging me just moments before,’ McAfee said on Monday’s episode of his eponymous show.
The problem, according to McAfee, involved a since-deleted video reportedly posted on the Utah Student Experience Instagram page.
The video, which has since surfaced on other social media platforms, includes Utah students criticizing McAfee before his scheduled live remote broadcast from Salt Lake City, where the sixth-ranked Utes beat visiting Houston, 21-13, on Saturday night.
‘One kid goes, “Ah, he’s corny,”‘ McAfee said of the Instagram video. ‘Another kid calls me “creepy.”‘
McAfee claimed he wasn’t upset about the criticism, but rather the fact that it was being posted on a school social media account.
‘The University puts that out, like as I’m about to go out and do an infomercial for the place, and then I’m walking in front of thousands of these people,’ he said. ‘This is how the University feels about it. It’s an uncomfortable feeling.’
McAfee went on to reference Kirk’s 2025 murder at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 45 miles south of Utah’s Salt Lake City campus.
Although he stopped short of mentioning Kirk by name, McAfee did urge schools in Utah to refrain from sharing divisive material.
‘I thought to myself, has anything like really scary happened at 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?’
McAfee took issue with a video posted on one of the school’s social media accounts (pictured)
McAfee had other issues in Salt Lake City, too.
He errantly predicted that Houston would upset the Utes, only to later admit coach Morgan Scalley’s team is, in fact, ‘good.’ He also bickered with one of the contestants in his weekly kicking contest who sneered at the $1 million prize.
‘Actually, how about $20,’ McAfee told the woman, who went on to miss her kick.
A school spokesperson has since issued a public apology to McAfee and the ESPN crew.
‘The University of Utah is grateful to have had the chance to welcome Pat McAfee and the entire ESPN College GameDay crew to campus,’ read the school statement.
‘ESPN College Game Day has visited our campus seven times and we have always enjoyed a terrific relationship and positive experiences with the entire crew.
‘Our goal during the visit was to create lighthearted engagement regarding Pat being back on campus, but we 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.
‘University officials have reached out to Pat to express 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. Pat and the entire GameDay crew are always welcome at the University of Utah and we deeply appreciate the opportunity ESPN provides to showcase our university and community.’
