The renowned host Pat McAfee’s tenure at ESPN started with a whopping five-year, $85 million deal which unfortunately did not go smoothly for long. ESPN’s sudden move led to an awkward start to the sports analyst’s new journey in the company.
However, Pat got involved in another awkward moment following his controversial comment about the former Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar on Sunday. He is popular among sports fans for saying pretty much whatever he wants without thinking much about the criticisms he might face afterward and recently, he again raised eyebrows following a rather gross “joke”.
Why did Pat McAfee’s comment outrage the NFL community?
In response to a tweet from a person named Evan Fox about disparaging the alternate football uniforms of Michigan State, McAfee made a poor joke saying the jerseys might be designed by the infamous former Spartans sports doctor Larry Nassar.
“I think [Larry] Nassar was in on the design team actually,” he tweeted.
I think Nassar was in on the design team actually
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 30, 2023
In 2015, Nassar was charged following the allegations of sexually assaulting at least 265 young women and girls including many Olympic and United States women’s national gymnastics team members while working at Michigan State University and at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics.
He pled guilty to “10 counts of felony criminal sexual conduct in the first degree for assaulting gymnasts for years” as well as for the “possession of child pornography”, and had been sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.
The ignoble person recently hit the headlines again after being stabbed by another inmate due to a comment Nassar made about girls. Hence, quantifying a team’s jersey as being so bad that the designer can be alluded to as a molester turned out to be a provocative affair for some fans.
NFL community outraged over Pat McAfee’s comment
A good portion of the NFL community couldn’t digest this insensitive joke and the ESPN personality received a ton of backlash following his provocative remark.
A netizen said the joke is super dark as well as not even funny and bashed McAfee for drawing connections between a rapist and the MSU jerseys
I feel like this 1) is a super dark joke 2) it’s not even funny dark? Like what’s the connection
Ooo a doctor raped all these girls and now we blame him for all bad things at MSU?
Like if it was say a football player who pulled his groin the. You could say “nassar did this”
— In Kirby I Trust (@Charlie_S1mpson) July 31, 2023
A user said, “Making a joke about someone who committed hundreds of sexual assaults isn’t something that should be done. This is gross.”
Making a joke about someone who committed hundreds of sexual assaults isn’t something that should be done. This is gross
— MSU Chief of Propaganda (@OdellBretthamJr) July 30, 2023
Some people even urged the analyst to delete the controversial tweet before it is too late, albeit it might not happen at all.
I suppose everybody else has already said it but yeah buddy you should absolutely delete this.
— Brendan Boyd (@brenboyd22) July 30, 2023
However, a few people also came in support of him while marking the offended people as keyboard warriors,
“all these ppl offended would also get offended at a stand up comedy show… jus stay home behind the keyboard u perfect ppl!!!
all these ppl offended would also get offended at a stand up comedy show… jus stay home behind the keyboard u perfect ppl!!!
— Andrew Walters (@Surrender2Me89) July 30, 2023
Pat might not be understanding the seriousness of this sensitive matter as he denied to delete the tweet upon asking. Nevertheless, after facing constant backlash following the controversial tweet, it remains to be seen if he can realize the depth of the issue and take some actions to reform his mistakes.
What’s your take on this issue? Do you think that McAfee’s tweet was offensive? You can share your opinions with us in the comments.
