Despite all indications being that he would, Pat McAfee had yet to announce his official return to the College GameDay set for the 2024 season.
That changed on Wednesday, as the former All-Pro punter opened The Pat McAfee Show with a video montage confirming he’ll be a part of the cast of ESPN’s flagship college football show as a full-time analyst for a third straight season.
🚨BREAKING🚨 pic.twitter.com/gosfIzCo9A
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 24, 2024
McAfee’s video included multiple highlights from his past appearances on the show, including the time he memorably questioned the meaning behind the acronym “LANK.” Following the video, McAfee addressed the speculation regarding his uncertain status with the program.
“There was some drama, obviously, that started lingering,” he said. “We had chatted about it, me, [ESPN president of content] Burke [Magnus] and [ESPN chairman] Jimmy [Pitaro], obviously, whenever the licensing of the show conversation was taking place. Then some lawyer at ESPN tried to be a super genius. I closed Sicilian’d him. 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 a 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 my existence was certainly something that weighed very heavy on this here dumba** sports dude’s heart.”
McAfee ultimately determined that his passion for GameDay outweighed his hesitancies. That, however, didn’t stop him from taking another shot at the aforementioned ESPN attorney.
“You’re a genius, buddy,” McAfee said sarcastically. “You did great. You caused a lot of of s**t. But ultimately in the end, the stooge in the USA tank top — and if I was would have had jorts on — could work you every time.”
Pat McAfee confirms he’s coming back to College GameDay this year, throwing an ESPN lawyer under the bus in the process for complicating things and referencing a poll about his presence on the show.pic.twitter.com/NcJIwypAaJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 24, 2024
While it’s unclear what the specific issue involving a lawyer was, the entire leadup to McAfee’s official return has been somewhat odd. After The Athletic poll McAfee referenced was released last fall, the former Indianapolis Colts punter said he wasn’t sure whether he’d be returning to College GameDay in 2024, before later publicly stating his plans to do so.
Come May, however, McAfee remained cagey about his status on the show and in June it was reported that he still hadn’t signed a new contract. In the end, both sides were able to work out a deal — although as often seems to be the case when it comes to McAfee’s relationship with ESPN, it wasn’t without drama.
