The FBI reportedly told ESPN commentator Pat McAfee to wear a bulletproof vest in 2025 following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Reports of the bulletproof vest came after McAfee said he “never felt more uncomfortable” than when he visited the University of Utah this past Saturday. Per Front Office Sports:
McAfee didn’t appreciate videos showing students “talking trash” about him as a “corny” shirt-ripping clown. Not to mention the student in his kicking contest complaining she stood to earn “only” $1 million vs. another student who won $3 million on Oct. 17. She missed all three tries—but McAfee seemed annoyed by her attitude.
On his eponymous show Monday, McAfee doubled down, saying he “never felt more uncomfortable” as he did at the University of Utah Saturday. Specifically, he called out the school for mocking him on its main Instagram account while he was about to shoot essentially an “info-mercial” for the university.
In his Monday show, McAfee alluded to the 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
“I thought to myself: Has anything really scary happened at, like, a college gathering in the state of Utah recently?” asked McAfee “Do you think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts as 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.”
One source confirmed to Front Office Sports that McAfee regularly receives death threats, adding that the FBI told him to wear a bulletproof vest after Kirk’s assassination.
ESPN supported McAfee in a statement released on Monday.
“The safety and security of our on-air team, crew and fans is paramount at College GameDay,” said the 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.”
The University of Utah later issued an apology to McAfee for creating the perception that he was “unsafe or unwelcome.”
“Our goal during the visit was to create light-hearted engagement regarding Pat being back on campus, but we missed the mark,” said the school in a statement.
“University officials have reached out to Pat to express appreciation and regret,” the school added. “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 our community.”
