Pat McAfee ramped up his feud with The New York Times after a critical column about his presence on ESPN College GameDay.
Earlier this month, The Athletic, owned by The New York Times, ran a column by Jerry Brewer questioning McAfee’s growing presence.
He argued that the show has become so focused on McAfee that it is no longer ‘the ultimate gathering place for all fans’, despite high ratings.
The piece made multiple references to the rowdy McAfee regularly removing his shirt on the show to the delight of the live audience in college towns across America.
And it seems the article has somewhat rankled McAfee, who made reference to it for the second week in a row as the show began at 7am local time in Salt Lake City before Utah hosted Houston.
After removing his shirt at the very start of the show and making a big deal of doing so, McAfee shouted: ‘New York Times always saying it!’
Pat McAfee removed his shirt and took a public dig at the New York Times for the second week
McAfee went topless at the very start of the show after insisting he didn’t intend to do so
Pat McAfee: “New York Times always saying it! ‘This a**hole is shirtless at 9:02 a.m. Eastern!’ Sorry, Coach. I’m ruining the whole sport; I’m ruining the whole sport because of this.” https://t.co/rnOxme3PPt
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 24, 2026
‘This a**hole is shirtless at 9:02 a.m. Eastern!’. Sorry, Coach. I’m ruining the whole sport; I’m ruining the whole sport because of this.’
His direct shot at The New York Times came at the end of an antagonistic stunt seemingly designed to directly respond to his critics.
‘Thousands of people yelling at you to take your clothes off, I don’t know what you’re supposed to do,’ he began.
‘I’m going to keep these on, I’m just not going to listen, I’m going to say let’s have a fantastic, fully shirted…’
As fans booed, he stood up and removed his jacket dramatically to large cheers, saying: ‘When I got up this morning, I said I’m not gonna do it.’
After climbing on his chair to pump up the crowd, he was helped down by Nick Saban and gave the former Alabama coach a hug.
‘It’s supposed to be wild, it’s supposed to be chaotic,’ McAfee explained. ‘It’s supposed to be the best atmosphere in all of sport no matter what country you’re in.
‘College football is the best. The fans are the greatest. And today’s gonna be another spectacular Saturday of college ball.’
McAfee fired up the crowd in Utah at 7am local time before their game against Houston
McAfee was helped down by Nick Saban before defending his rowdy approach to the show
It is the second show in a row where McAfee has made reference to a column written about him
Last week, co-host Rece Davis suggested Billy Napier, now head coach at James Madison, had suddenly figured out how to coach.
‘I’ve always thought Billy could coach,’ Davis said. ‘That was a joke.’
‘Oh, really? Don’t be joking on here!’ McAfee replied. ‘New York Times is gonna write an article about you! Don’t do it, Rece!
‘College football’s fun. GameDay might be fun too. Don’t do that, Rece. I promise you. We’re in the entertainment business.’
