Former ESPN host Katie Nolan recently took Pat McAfee to task over his reaction to criticism from fans, particularly how he handled the fallout from College GameDay’s visit to Utah. She argued that despite all his success, McAfee often acts like he’s being unfairly targeted and expects others to look after his emotional well-being.
Her comments didn’t sit well with everyone, though. While some agreed with Nolan’s assessment, others weren’t so quick to side with her. Dan Dakich was one of them, and he had some strong words in defense of McAfee.
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Dan Dakich Defends Pat McAfee After Katie Nolan’s Criticism
Speaking on the “Don’t @ Me” podcast, Dakich pushed back against Nolan’s portrayal of McAfee, arguing that the ESPN personality is widely liked, particularly by women. He also took several personal shots at Nolan, questioning her attitude toward McAfee and the way she talks about him.
“Women love Pat McAfee. I mean, they don’t like him; they love him. Not little whiners like you, who think you’re so cool. Little whiners like you detest… you go to toxic masculinity,” Dakich said.
He then brought up his own experience with McAfee, explaining that the two live near each other and sometimes cross paths at the same country club. He used that story to push back on Nolan’s suggestion that McAfee’s public image and behavior have turned people against him.
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“Pat McAfee lives about a mile away from me now. [He used to live] closer. His place is right over here. Pat comes over to the same country club I belong to, and women absolutely love him.”
Dakich also brought up how well McAfee’s shows have done on ESPN, arguing that the numbers speak for themselves.
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“ESPN’s ratings are through the roof compared to when he is there now, as opposed to when he wasn’t there, and that includes women,” he said.
All things said, “College GameDay” has been drawing a big audience. ESPN said its Oct. 17 broadcast from Provo averaged 3 million viewers, the third-most in the show’s history at the time.
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Why Nolan Took Issue With McAfee’s Utah Response
“College GameDay” visited Salt Lake City on Oct. 24 ahead of Utah’s game against Houston. McAfee later said he felt uncomfortable and unsafe there, going on to share screenshots of threatening messages he said he had received.
Nolan wasn’t impressed with how he handled the situation and addressed it on the “Casuals with Katie Nolan” show.
She argued that McAfee can’t put himself in the public eye and then expect everyone to go easy on him when the reaction isn’t so positive. Nolan acknowledged how successful he’s been but questioned why he seems to take negative attention so personally.
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“The guy is winning in every sense of the word, and yet is constantly acting like the world is attacking him baselessly… He acts irresponsibly but then wants everybody to be responsible for his emotional well-being and to take care of him,”Nolan said.
Nolan also said she used to think McAfee was comfortable playing the heel, which made his reaction to the Utah crowd surprising to her.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
