After some speculation about whether or not he would return, Pat McAfee made it official today and said he is coming back to College GameDay on ESPN. “It is officially official…I am returning to College Game Day,” he said on The Pat McAfee Show today.
“We had chatted about it, me, Burke [Magnus], and 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 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 Game Day 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 [my] heart.”
McAfee went on to talk about the amount of work the show does during the week and that Saturday mornings were the only time he used to be able to rest. Now, with the schedule for College GameDay it adds more work and travel to his schedule. However, it appears, the opportunity to be on the show and to get to be with the people who make it all happen was what won McAfee over.
“When you get offered the opportunity to join College GameDay, you can’t say no to that,” he said. “You’re talking about one of the greatest shows in the history of television. You’re talking about one of the greatest shows in the history of sports media.
“I think I’m happy I could put that conversation to bed. 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 fall…Gonna be the biggest year yet.”
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban will debut this season as a new member of College GameDay.
