Michelle Beadle isn’t feeling sorry for Pat McAfee — in fact, quite the opposite.
The former ESPN star blasted McAfee for being “soft” when it came to his reaction to a social media video of University of Utah students taking some lighthearted and, at best, mocking jabs toward him that was posted by the school before his “College GameDay” visit to the campus last week.
The former Colts punter and WWE commentator said during “The Pat McAfee Show” days later that he felt “very, very uncomfortable” and unsafe that day.
He also alluded to the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September 2025 at Utah Valley University.
The comments set off a firestorm of reaction to McAfee, who vowed to “never go to that place” again and the school has since apologized.
Beadle, like others, was critical of McAfee’s lack of thick skin in the situation, saying he would never have made it in women’s sports media.
She gave some insight into her own experience during an appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show” on Thursday.
“We are constantly told as women that we’re hysterical, we’re too emotional, we can’t handle things. I can’t tell you how many death and rape threats I’ve gotten via social media since 2009 when we got on Twitter originally. I could never be that soft. Never,” said Beadle, who left ESPN in 2019. “This has been one of the softest, and we’ve seen quite a few from some of the people at the top of the food pyramid of sports media, one of the softest reactions to something that was so ridiculously unserious.
“I’d like to think people are watching themselves and maybe learning a couple of things. Let it humble you the proper way, but I don’t think that’s what we’re going to see. So, quite frankly, from afar, I’m enjoying every single second of it.”
McAfee, 39, on Monday detailed in a long social media post why this situation hit different for him than it might for others after reports the FBI advised him to wear a bulletproof vest for “College GameDay” following Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10, 2025.
McAfee said the idea came from one of the “security groups.”
“The FBI.. alongside, Disney security, Tennessee State Police, Knoxville PD, University Police, everybody in area, all had the very same goal to protect the s–t out of the area,” McAfee wrote. “FBI snipers were sent down there, huge presence of police.. it was a surreal moment. The conversation about the death threats I had been receiving in life was definitely a huge topic. I don’t think it was the FBI that suggested the [bulletproof vest], but it was certainly an idea presented by one of the security groups. We had no idea what to expect. Nobody had been in that type of situation before. Everybody wanted the best for everybody.”
McAfee, who was also the subject of a recent critical New York Times article, released a few of the threats he’s received.
“It’s a weird time,” McAfee wrote. “The things that get said about what my daughter and son and wife deserve are all rather wild as well.”
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