Pat McAfee goes viral for 'naysayer' comment, apologizes for Aaron Rodgers

Sports analyst Pat McAfee kicked off the new year involved in back-to-back viral moments. One took over Black Twitter/X. The other led to him apologizing for the remarks of a panelist on his YouTube show.

On Jan. 1, on ESPN’s “College GameDay” host Rece Davis began sharing information about University of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and his LANK-branded apparel, saying that the name was an acronym for “Let A Naysayer Know.” (It's Let All Naysayers Know.)

McAfee interrupted saying he wasn’t expecting to hear that the N represented the word “naysayer.”

He and others on the panel initially feared that Davis would let loose with the N-word.

"That is not what I thought. Let a naysayer know?" McAfee, a former Indianapolis Colt said. "It was getting real tight up here."

The airing was followed by myriad social media posts that replaced the racial slur for the word “naysayer,” many with African-American cultural references.

X responds to viral Pat McAfee Show moment

The incident looked like it would go down in the annals of Black Twitter alongside the likes of #NegroSolstice and #MontgomeryBrawl.

McAfee’s X posting of a video with naysayers reactions has racked up more than 17 million views.

Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Kimmel feud leads to McAfee apology

The next day on “The Pat McAfee Show'' saw Tuesday regular and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers insinuate that late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel could show up on the list of clients of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Accused of sex trafficking minors, financier Epstein died by suicide while in jail in 2019 awaiting trial.

Documents containing the names of some of his associates are being publicly released.

Rodgers gets paid to appear weekly on McAfee’s show.

Kimmel responded to Rodgers’ Jan. 2 suggestion that he is linked to Epstein by threatening legal action.

“For the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any “list” other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality,” he posted to X. “Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”

McAfee on Wednesday apologized for airing the comments, explaining that the show runs without a script and that trash talk is one of the components.

“Some things obviously people get very pissed off about, especially when they’re that serious allegations,” McAfee said at the top of Wednesday’s show. “We apologize for being a part of it. I can’t wait to hear what Aaron has to say about it. Hopefully, those two will just be able to settle this. Not court-wise; but be able to chit chat and move along.”

Disney owns both ESPN and ABC.

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X: @cherylvjackson.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Aaron Rodgers' feud with Jimmy Kimmel leads to Pat McAfee apology