Linda Cohn believes Pat McAfee has a lesson to learn from his weekend in Utah. Now, the former SportsCenter anchor says he should examine what he amplifies on his massive platform.
What We Know: College GameDay visited Salt Lake City on Saturday ahead of Utah’s win over Houston. Before the broadcast, Utah’s official Instagram posted students mocking McAfee as “corny” and “creepy.” Afterward, McAfee signed off by saying he hoped never to return. Then, on Monday, he alluded to Charlie Kirk’s assassination and questioned why the school amplified such criticism. Then University apologized for publishing the video, and ESPN also released a statement defending McAfee’s feelings towards it. Cohn, a former ESPN employee, shared on her Linda Cohn Show that the moment should be used by McAfee to re-evaluate what he gives spotlight to on his massive platform.
What They Said: (all quotes via The Linda Cohn Show):
Linda Cohn says Pat McAfee has to be more careful in giving everything spotlight on his platform: “You built a career being loud, unpredictable. People watch because you say something outrageous and make the room react. That’s what you do. That’s been so successful for you. Occasionally, the room is going to have something to say about you. You don’t have to enjoy it, but you have to decide whether every joke deserves the full weight of your platform.”
Linda Cohn says McAfee is at fault for amplifying something that didn’t deserve it: “Don’t take this personally. You could have given them 30 seconds of good-natured grief and moved on. Why did you make it a big deal on Saturday? You let it agitate you on Saturday. Instead, you gave their video a national publicity campaign. If you wanted fewer people laughing at that clip, why did you hand everybody a reason to go find this clip?”
Linda Cohn says Pat McAfee should use this moment to evaluate his support system: “If you don’t realize that you made a big deal about this, and didn’t nip it at the bud when you could have, somebody in your support system should have told you. Again, if it wasn’t made a big deal on Saturday, then we wouldn’t have gotten to Monday. You talking about it again on the show and comparing it to Charlie Kirk.”
What Remains Unclear: Still, it is unclear whether either statement settles the matter for McAfee. It is also unknown whether he will respond to Cohn. It’s also unknown if ESPN will have College GameDay return to Utah for the highly anticipated matchup with BYU next weekend.
What It Means: Ultimately, this is Cohn’s latest swipe at McAfee’s sizable footprint. Since retiring from ESPN in June, she has repeatedly questioned the network’s ties with him. Her central challenge was blunt: “you have to decide whether every joke deserves the full weight of your platform.” As a result, McAfee’s on-air choices face fresh scrutiny. Whether or not McAfee will use the moment to look internally at his approach is yet to be seen.
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