University of Utah apologizes to Pat McAfee after students mock the ESPN host

The University of Utah apologized on Monday to ESPN’s Pat McAfee after a handful of students mocked him as “corny” and “creepy,” triggering the college football personality during his assignment last week to Salt Lake City.

Students had made moderately disparaging remarks about the former Indianapolis Colts punter, which were taped and published on the school’s Instagram, though the footage has since been deleted.

“We sincerely apologize for creating any perception that Pat was unsafe or unwelcome on our campus,” the university said in a statement on social media.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Pat and the entire GameDay crew are always welcome at the University of Utah and we deeply appreciate the opportunity ESPN provides to showcase our university and community,” the statement said.

McAfee said he wasn’t annoyed by the actual criticism as much as he was by students being allowed to use the university’s platform to make those points.

“One kid goes, ‘Ah, he’s corny.’ Another kid calls me creepy,” the ESPN personality said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. “OK if these kids would have done this on their own blogs, all good. I mean, everybody’s taking shots at me anyways for everything…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports