SI

Kirk Herbstreit Says Pat McAfee Played Major Role in Keeping Him at ‘College GameDay’

As he balances college football and NFL duties, the ESPN star praised McAfee's energy, and called him one of the best teammates he’s ever had.

Jimmy Traina

Kirk Herbstreit couldn't be happier with what Pat McAfee has brought to ESPN's "College GameDay."
Kirk Herbstreit couldn't be happier with what Pat McAfee has brought to ESPN's "College GameDay." / Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

1. Pat McAfee joined ESPN’s iconic College GameDay in 2022. The energetic personality with a huge following not only added buzz, but he is at least partially responsible for keeping Kirk Herbstreit on the show.

On the latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina, Herbstreit heaped praise on McAfee and then revealed the role McAfee played in Herbstreit’s desire to remain with GameDay.

“Pat McAfee has brought a lot of energy and a lot of crazy moments to the show,” Herbstreit said on the podcast. “He's one of the greatest teammates I've ever had. He prepares his ass off on this show. He’s almost deferential to the show, what it's meant to the sport, being in an NFL locker room, what it means to NFL players, who on Saturday are a lot of times at their facility and he's like, [GameDay] is on in every facility. So he sees it through a lens that I don't. He has such respect for Lee Corso and the show. So people need to know that when they see him. He's a character and he's fun. It doesn't mean he's a wild, loose cannon. He's the opposite of that. He's very respectful of the show.”

Herbstreit then cited McAfee when discussing how long he wanted to keep up with his hectic schedule of doing GameDay on Saturdays, calling ESPN’s main game on Saturday night and then doing Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime with Al Michaels.

“I didn't know Pat,” said Herbstreit. “I never met Pat. I started going on his podcast before he was on ESPN. Had a lot of fun with him. Then I got to start to go to dinner with him and I just realized there's so much more to him than wearing a tank top and standing on top of a chair and yelling. At the end of the day Pat McAfee is about celebrating sports. That’s really what he's about. I know there's been some controversial moments with Aaron Rogers and all that stuff, but at the end of the day, if you're just sitting there talking to him—you know how people, sometimes people walk into a room and they suck energy out of the room?  There are other people, Lee Corso is one of these guys, they go into a room and they kind of provide energy. That's the best way to describe Pat.

“Pat walks into a room and he provides energy to the room. And I'm talking undefeated.  I've never seen him just kind of walk into a room, quiet, had a tough day maybe at home. We all do that. I do that. He doesn't do that. I'm telling you, man, the GameDay people feed off of his energy."

Herbstreit continued: “He's completely made me re-evaluate 29 years of my career. You get to points, you know everyone I started with on the show except Lee Corso is gone. Behind the scenes, on the camera, behind the camera. Other than Lee, a lot of people are gone. So when I was at like Year 25, Year 26, doing Amazon, doing the Saturday night game, I love GameDay, but I do I really want to keep doing it? I love Rece [Davis} and Des[mond Howard] and Coach. I love everybody, but it's tiring and then, man, Pat's energy has really changed my view on that. Then you bring [Nick] Saban in and it's like,  man, you couldn't pull me off College GameDay right now. And a lot of that has to do with just the overall vibe of that whole show.”

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

2. If you’re a Yankees fan, you won’t get any better news than this day. All I have to say is HALLELUJAH!

3. We posted a clip in Trana Thoughts last week from MLB Network’s upcoming special on Greg Maddux, One of a Kind, that debuts this Sunday at 8 p.m, ET. The video featured Maddux and Barry Bonds talking about one of their battles and it was compelling.

This clip from the show, featuring the way Maddux set up Houston’s Jeff Bagwell, might be even better.

4. For most of the New York Jets' existence as a franchise, they have been a complete embarrassment. I could list many reasons why this is the case, but I’ll just post this video in which current players weigh in on things that are overrated and you can see for yourself with the first two answers why LOLJets is a thing.

5. A good tweet.

6. Since I spend a lot of space in Traina Thoughts and a lot of time on SI Media With Jimmy Traina ranting and raving about how much I hate what’s going on with everything going to streaming, I felt obligated to bring this piece of ridiculous news today.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: In honor of Joey Votto announcing his retirement on Wednesday, never forget the time he went Mad Dog on Mad Dog.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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