FBI Urged Pat McAfee to Wear Bullet-Proof Vest After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
from Essentially College Football
Pat McAfee was going about business as usual on September 10, 2025. At his home in Indianapolis, he was hosting his Watt Wednesday segment, breaking down defensive film with Darius Butler on Good D Bad D, and reviewing Week 1 NFL takeaways with A.Q. Shipley. He was also scheduled to head to Knoxville for Tennessee vs. Georgia. Everything seemed routine. But hundreds of miles away, an incident that would shake the country to its core was unfolding. And before long, its fallout would reach McAfee’s doorstep.
Political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University. In the immediate aftermath, the FBI quietly stepped in to warn McAfee of a threat to his life. For over a year, this chilling development remained entirely unknown to the football community. That silence finally broke earlier this week, right after McAfee endured one of the most “uncomfortable” moments of his career during a trip to the University of Utah.
Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy revealed on Tuesday that the FBI had advised McAfee to wear a bulletproof vest in the days following Kirk’s assassination. Federal authorities had genuine reason to believe the broadcaster’s life was under threat, but McAfee refused to let the warnings disrupt his work. He went on to host College GameDay in Knoxville and delivered a passionate speech despite the mounting pressure and security concerns. According to reports, he ultimately chose not to wear a bulletproof vest.
Death threats weren’t new for McAfee. He had dealt with them throughout his career, both as a player and as a broadcaster who passionately rips his shirt off and feeds off the raw energy of college fans across the country. Back in 2007, while playing for West Virginia University, he missed a couple of kicks against rival Pittsburgh, which led to his team getting knocked out of the playoffs. He later admitted that the backlash was so bad that he lost the will to live.
“I didn’t know if I wanted to live anymore. My life changed immediately that day,” McAfee said in an interview with Sports Illustrated at the time. “It was like something out of a movie. I just drove. I got all the way to Virginia through Maryland. I was gone for a couple of days. I drove, parked, slept, and kept driving. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know where I was headed. I didn’t know what was coming next.”
The situation in 2025 was different, of course. McAfee was one of the most popular faces of football in America, and had reportedly received death threats online, with some comments allegedly hinting that what it would have been like for him to get “Kirked”. It was a scary period for McAfee, who had those feelings rush back to him during his visit to the University of Utah campus — just about 40 miles away from where Kirk was shot — earlier this week.
The ESPN personality wasn’t happy with videos posted on the university’s official Instagram account showing students mocking him. Some called him a “corny, shirt-ripping clown”. Another student complained about winning “only” $1 million in Pat McAfee’s kicking contest after a different contestant over at BYU had collected $3 million on October 17. On his show Monday, he explained why the university’s involvement bothered him more than jokes made by students themselves.
“If these kids would have done this on their own vlog, I’d have been okay with it. The university puts that out as I’m about to go out and do an infomercial for the place? I’m walking in front of thousands of people. It’s an uncomfortable feeling. And then I thought to myself, has anything like really scary happened at like a college gathering in the state of Utah recently?” he said.
The implication was clear. He was connecting the situation to Kirk’s passing and questioning whether the university should be amplifying material that could encourage hostility toward him. McAfee subsequently indicated he had no plans to return to the Salt Lake City campus with ESPN’s College GameDay.
ESPN backs Pat McAfee as Utah issues an apology
McAfee went on his show and said this was the most uncomfortable he had ever felt in his career. Walking in front of thousands of people who represented an institution that had openly mocked him and crossed a line was not easy. His employers at ESPN soon stood by him, releasing a statement in support.
“The safety and security of our on-air team, crew, and fans is paramount at College GameDay,” an ESPN spokesperson told FOS. “We are committed to ensuring a safe environment, and given the very real threats that members of our team face, we take issues involving their safety seriously. We support Pat and recognize the very real and valid concerns he has around safety and security.”
The University of Utah also issued an apology, taking responsibility for the content posted on its official social media accounts. The university said its attempt at lighthearted engagement had missed the mark and that officials had contacted Pat McAfee to apologize. It also stressed that McAfee and the entire GameDay crew were still welcome on campus.
It’s unclear whether McAfee will accept the apology or change his mind about ever returning to Salt Lake City. The reported FBI advice doesn’t prove that a specific attack on McAfee was planned, but it does suggest that his safety concerns went beyond a bruised ego or a social media spat. Some people have genuine hostility towards him, and stirring the pot is a definite no-no.
He’s expected to return to College GameDay when the show visits Indiana for its Halloween matchup against Minnesota. And for a guy who usually turns everything into a punchline, there’s nothing funny about being advised to wear a bulletproof vest.