Pat McAfee pushes back on criticism over his San Francisco appreciation

Not too many sports media members were ultimately surprised to see the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

Some of them did come away from the experience, however, very surprised about how much they enjoyed San Francisco.

Many of the sports media world’s biggest bros, including Will Compton, Taylor Lewan, and Barstool podcaster Eddie Farrer, marveled at the amazing food and festivities while in town.

Perhaps no sports media bro was more impressed than Pat McAfee. Broadcasting live from the Bay Area city all week, he and his Pat McAfee Show cohorts couldn’t stop sharing how surprised they were to learn that San Francisco was “beautiful,” and “incredible,” and not the “sh*ithole” they’d been told it was. They even had San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie on to discuss how the city was recovering from tougher times.

“We talk to local police, we talk to a retired police, we talk to some business people, we talk to other people we encounter here,” said McAfee. “Mayor’s like, ‘Yeah, it wasn’t great.’ Joe Montana, I think everybody’s going to say, it wasn’t great. We weren’t in a good spot, but we all made a decision, ‘We’re not going to do it anymore.’ I think San Francisco is showcasing us. I don’t know about the world. I don’t know how people are going to change their opinions about what’s going on, but it’s a beautiful place.”

McAfee’s experience was juxtaposed with the vision of San Francisco that conservative media and politicians have presented in recent years, a vision they’ve continued to push. And many of McAfee’s right-leaning viewers and followers apparently weren’t too pleased he used his eyes and brain to relay what he’d experienced, rather than just parrot the party line.

Monday, McAfee echoed his prior comments about how great a time he had in NoCal, while also speaking up about the criticism he received about that.

San Francisco was good to us..

We had a GREAT time out there #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/8fmaCeO5Hr

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 9, 2026

“I would like to reiterate the fact San Francisco was good to us out there,” said McAfee. “Had a lot of people start to talk about that whole thing.”

McAfee said he received many responses from people who assumed he was traveling by private plane and being chauffeured around the city. He wanted to dispel that notion and drive home that he and his showmates experienced the city as it is.

“We walked that sh*t. I mean, we were all over that place. And even on the maps, it says moderate incline. It’s like, that’s a lie. San Francisco, especially if you live in Indiana. We’re putting in steps. I mean, we’re all around. Now, granted, it was just our area. San Francisco, very, very wide. I assume there were sh*tty areas. I mean, it is a city. I think that happens in most cities. I think we even have some areas that are not great. But the part we were at was very nice.”

McAfee also pushed back on the idea that he wouldn’t have spoken honestly if he didn’t have a good time.

“There’s people that say, ‘You don’t think, you dipsh*t, they just cleaned it up because you all were coming to town.’ Maybe. They did a great job. If it stays this way, it’ll be incredible. If it goes back to being a dump the next time we’re there, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll tell you. Was actually planning leading off the show, if it was, saying, ‘This place is a sh*thole.’ I was planning on it.”

PMS co-host A.J. Hawk shared McAfee’s appreciation for the time in San Francisco, saying, “Super Bowl Week was amazing. I didn’t know what to expect going into San Fran. San Fran was awesome.”

Hawk also reiterated that the crew spent a lot of time in the city at all hours of the day.

“We walked everywhere we went. Didn’t matter what time,” said Hawk. “We definitely saw some interesting characters, but for the most part, it was all good.”

“Yeah, it was a city, you know?” added McAfee, as they discussed a few instances with sketchy characters that didn’t ultimately ruin their time there.

That last part is probably the whole point of all this. All cities come with positives and issues, and it’s very easy to focus on the problems and make them the only thing that matters. But cities like San Francisco are nothing to be scared of, despite certain media outlets trying to make you afraid. The good far outweighs the bad.