A week ago, ESPN was answering questions about religious signs at College GameDay. On October 17, Pat McAfee stood in front of a BYU crowd in Provo and read from the Book of Mormon.
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“Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited, and he hath created his children, that they should possess it,” McAfee said.
The crowd responded loudly. For a few moments, scripture became part of a program that usually spends Saturday mornings talking about quarterbacks, playoff hopes and rivalries.
Last week, ESPN faced criticism after religious signs were reportedly not allowed in College GameDay at Tuscaloosa. ESPN’s sign policy bars religious and political messages, as well as vulgar content and advertisements. BYU included the same restriction in its event information ahead of Notre Dame’s visit.
That policy is not a general ban on religious speech at a university. It gives the broadcaster control over the signs visible behind its presenters.
The trouble for ESPN is that viewers have seen religious messages in GameDay crowds before, including signs reading “Jesus Saves” and “Find Hope in Jesus.” The written rule has not always matched what viewers have seen on screen.
McAfee’s reading added another wrinkle. BYU’s religious identity is central to the school, and the passage clearly struck a chord with the home crowd. Yet the same message, printed on a sign held by a student in the designated area, could fall foul of the show’s rules.
ESPN executive Mike Foss said this week that GameDay averages around 2.8 million viewers and praised McAfee as a generational talent. So, a moment on GameDay reaches far beyond the campus where it happens.
This isn’t the first time, though; Pat McAfee has used religion on an ESPN show. McAfee brought Jameis Winston, then the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback, onto The Pat McAfee Show, a part of ESPN now, and caught viewers off guard by asking him to say a prayer live on the broadcast.
Outside the ESPY Awards this year, McAfee got candid about his relationship with his faith. He recounted that his father “went to Catholic school” and he grew up with faith.
“I love the thought of Jesus Christ,” Pat McAfee said. “I love the thought of that being it, and I think, inevitably, I will land there because that’s kind of how I feel right now.”
McAfee’s job at GameDay has never been limited to breaking down the games. He works the crowd, shouts with students, turns fan reactions into television and uses his kicking contest to give people a chance to win money.
His appearances often produce clips that travel well beyond the broadcast. Some viewers enjoy the noise and spontaneity. Others think the show has become too focused on McAfee himself.
That criticism came up again on the October 10 show. McAfee made his SuperDogs pick while admitting he barely knew the teams he was choosing between. It got a laugh, but the criticism never wavered: the jokes and stunts can get more attention than the football itself.
Before the BYU show, McAfee had already spoken about the Latter-day Saints, praising their faith and missionary work. But he has not always been seemingly respectful, which brought criticism.
During the 2023 Michigan-Ohio State edition of College GameDay, McAfee brought up the Latter-day Saints and made a joke about “soaking,” an internet meme tied to claims about how some BYU students interpret the school’s strict honor code.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns and runs BYU, and the school’s religious roots shape life on and off the field. Players must follow an honor code that bans alcohol and sex outside marriage, among other rules.
Many also spend two years serving church missions before returning to campus and resuming their football careers. With that kind of identity in mind, it’s understandable that Pat McAfee’s Mormon verses were just crowd work. Nothing more.
Even so, ESPN doesn’t prohibit its broadcasters from expressing their views freely, and that’s what Pat McAfee’s spontaneity on the set did. For entertainment, of course.