Pat McAfee, a notable figure from ESPN, has found himself at the center of controversy after being seen alongside former President Donald Trump at the inaugural Patriot Games this past Tuesday.
The Patriot Games, an athletic event for high schoolers conceived by Trump, wrapped up its first run in Ohio on Tuesday night, coinciding with Trump’s highly anticipated appearance.
Accompanied by McAfee, a former NFL star, and several student athletes, Trump made a dramatic entrance into the arena at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio.
The crowd erupted into cheers, punctuated by pyrotechnics, as Trump took the center stage, acknowledging the attendees with a wave.
Once the excitement settled, Trump settled in beside McAfee, who contrasted sharply with the former President’s formal attire, wearing a casual black t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap turned backwards.
Earlier in the afternoon, McAfee had greeted Trump on the tarmac as Air Force One touched down in Ohio before traveling with the Commander-in-Chief for the competition.
Pat McAfee (front far left) accompanied Donald Rrump (front center) to the Patriot Games
The ESPN star sat next to the Presdeint for the finale of the sporting competition
The former NFL star had greeted Trump on the tarmac in front of Air Force One in Ohio
The cozy outing came after the former-NFL-punter-turned-broadcaster has repeatedly declared that he is ‘not a political person’ and has urged other sportscaster to ‘stick to sports’ on numerous occasions.
His proximity to Trump on Tuesday sparked outrage from many sports fans, who viewed the appearance a hypocritical and contradictory to his previous public comments on politics.
‘Good to know he’s a spineless POS like the rest of them,’ one social media user wrote on X.
”I’m not a politics person.’ Also Pat MAGAfee,’ another posted, responding to a clip of McAfee’s interaction with Trump.
‘You are judged by the company you keep,’ claimed a third, while a fourth shared, ‘@PatMcAfeeShow Is cringe…Hanging out with the coward CateringCart man.’
‘Let’s fire good analysts from ESPN like Ryan Clark, and instead give $60 mill a year to MAGA bootlickers like Pat McAfee,’ wrote another referring to former NFL star Clark who was recently let go by ESPN and McAfee’s alleged contract.
They added: ‘So much for him ‘not being political.”
Another posted: ‘And he’s gonna respond to the backlash by spinning it into something patriotic and how it’s an honor to sit next to the president f*** @PatMcAfeeShow.’
McAfee, who hosts his own show on ESPN, then arrived at the arena alongside Trump
Organized through the Trump-backed Freedom 250 organization, the Patriot Games were held from August 9 to August 11.
The event brought together 120 teen athletes from ages 14 to 17 with one male and one female athlete representing each US state, plus participants from territories and tribal nations.
Only one male and one female will be able to win the competition, coming away with $125,000 in scholarship money each.
Events in the competition included dodgeball, kickball, tug of war, and victory hoops as well as the presidential fitness test.
Following the conclusion of the event, McAfee wrote on X: ‘Had a BLAST celebrating high schoolers from across the country with the Heads of Disney, ABC, ESPN, and… The United States Of America
‘I’m proud of all parties getting behind this important initiative to keep future generations excited about remaining active.
‘Cheers to the incredible contestants and to next year’s Patriot Games.’
McAfee has repeatedly made his desire to keep politics out of sports, stating following the assassination of Charlie Kirk that he is ‘not a politics person.’
Trump attended the final day of the inaugural Patriot Games at the SPIRE Academy in Ohio
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He added: ‘I’ve been thrown into the political world a couple of times by my own mistakes, but also because of my own opinions. It’s a blender over there.’
McAfee, the host of his self-eponymous show on ESPN, sparked backlash for interviewing Trump on the program during an ESPN Veterans Day broadcast in 2025.
During his appearance, Trump told McAfee that he only appeared on his show ‘because I hear you say such nice things about me.’
McAfee, who said he had also extended an invitation to former President Barack Obama which ultimately fell through, defended himself from the criticism at the time.
‘In my eyes he’s the leader of the military and we were celebrating the hell out of Veteran’s Day,’ McAfee said in a later talk show appearance, referring to Trump.