Pat McAfee is returning to ESPN's College GameDay.
McAfee announced the news on the July 24th episode of The Pat McAfee Show, which opened with a special video message from McAfee that included highlights of his time on College GameDay.
"When my contract came up, after living a dream alongside that crew that is just as talented off camera as they are on camera, I thought long and hard. ‘Am I the right person to be doing this incredible gig? There are millions and millions of people that would love to be sitting in my seat. Am I the right guy for it? Is this what I want to do?’ The only thing that I kept coming back to is, ‘Hell fucking yeah.’ I’m lucky, I’m honored, I’m humbled. I’m grateful, and I’m back," McAfee said.
McAfee then confirmed that he was returning to College GameDay. He said he was looking forward to August 24th, and he aimed to be part of the greatest year of college football of all time.
--BREAKING-- pic.twitter.com/gosfIzCo9A
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 24, 2024
During the show, McAfee went on to discuss his return to College GameDay and the circumstances surrounding it.
“I am returning to College GameDay and although I don’t want to make a big deal out of it, I know it is a big fucking deal that it’s happening. There was some drama obviously that started lingering. We had chatted about it, conversation was taking place, then some lawyer at ESPN tried to be a super genius. I ended up being a free agent, and it was a real moment of looking in the mirror and saying, ‘Am I the right person for this job?’ Obviously, The Athletic poll came out last year. I think it was like 50% of the people were like, ‘Get this guy the hell off of College GameDay.’ I’m a College GameDay fan. I enjoyed waking up on Saturday mornings and watching the show that propels us into college football Saturday and inevitably into NFL Sunday, so for those people to have a terrible morning because of me existence, it was certainly something that weighed very heavy on this here dumbass sports stooge’s heart. That’s for real, brother, because we have a show Monday through Friday, obviously. It’s three hours every single day, we’re lucky to do it. We create it, we produce it. There are zero people from journalism school here. We are kind of doing our own thing, but it’s a lot of work. I’m my agent, I’m my own representative, I’m my own strategizer, I’m my own schemer, along the great boys that I have working here, so it’s a lot of effort Monday through Friday. Saturday mornings used to be the only time I was really able to sleep in and get a rest. Then, when you get offered the opportunity to join College GameDay, you can’t say no to that. You’re talking about one of the greatest shows in the history of television. You’re telling about one of the greatest shows in the history of sports media," McAfee said.
McAfee continued by highlighting how he fell in love with college football, and he had a great time doing the show. He pointed out how he was heavily criticized throughout his first run on the show, but he ultimately decided that he wanted to return.
"Whenever I got there, I fell in love with it. How could you not? The entire pageantry of college football is on display for three hours before the games even start. Millions and millions of people are watching every single Saturday. So I took it as a great honor. I was very lucky, I was very thankful to be there. I enjoyed every single stop that we made, every college town that we stopped through, the conversations alongside everybody at the desk, and the people that work behind the camera are just as cool and talented as the people that are on-camera, so it was like I was a part of their family. But did I want to continue to ruin these people’s Saturdays? Did I maybe want to sleep in on a Saturday morning during football season with my baby girl, as she’s continuing to grow and evolve? She’s gonna grow, so do I want to be away? It was an actual decision that was based on, not on my love of college football because obviously, I fell in love with it. Not because if my love of the people at College GameDay. I enjoy the shit out of all those people that are part of that entire family. But mostly because do I want to sign up to hear in my mentions how terrible of a person I am by people will never understand the type of human I am? Is that what I want to sign up for? We’re doing okay everywhere else. Every time I thought about it, I was like, ‘I get the opportunity to do this. I still get the opportunity to do this. I need to do this.’ I think we can put that conversation to bed. I’m excited to be there. To that lawyer, you’re genius, buddy. You did great. Caused a lot of shit, but ultimately, in the end, the stooge in a USA tank top, and if I would have had jorts on, could work you every time in that negotiating table. Just remember that. To all you journalists that are talking about it, I’d love to sit in a room with you one-on-one and see how it ends up. But to the college football fans, thank you for embracing me and my stupidity, and I can’t wait to get back on the road with the entire crew on Saturdays throughout the fall," McAfee said.
McAfee also said that he wanted to prove that he belonged at the desk, and he intended to win his doubters over.
McAfee previously joined College GameDay in September 2022. His contract came up after the 2023 season, and his status had remained in limbo as of June, as he still had not been signed to a new deal.
Due to the College GameDay schedule, McAfee stepped away from WWE, aside from making occasional appearances. He later returned to the company in January 2024, and he has been part of the Raw commentary team with Michael Cole. It is not clear how his return to College GameDay will impact his role with WWE.
Fightful will provide more information as it becomes available.
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