What began as a prediction about a Tennessee-Texas matchup quickly spiraled into a disturbing controversy for ESPN’s Pat McAfee. The ESPN broadcaster is now speaking out after journalist Jon Root allegedly altered one of his posts, seemingly triggering a wave of threats.

“Woke up this morning; folks were really coming after me for being a really big piece of s–t who has ruined everything,” McAfee wrote on X. “I keep scrolling &…just some awesome internet happening lately. Last week it was @JonnyRoot_ completely lying about what I said and dropping me into something with potential real-life repercussions.

“This week.. @ShaneTuttleNCAA does some of its finest internetting… The good news is, all of these folks that were very excited to believe this DEFINITELY got a follow-up about this being fake, right?”

A parody X account by the name of Shane Tuttle allegedly altered Pat McAfee’s opinions on College GameDay. Those posts garnered serious backlash against the broadcaster.

“Strange: Pat McAfee picks President Donald Trump to win the Texas vs. Tennessee matchup on College GameDay. ‘I only root for one team, and that team is Team USA,'” Tuttle wrote on X.

Meanwhile, what McAfee actually predicted was Tennessee to beat Texas by noting, “I had all intents and purposes of picking Arch Manning…[but] give me the Tennessee Volunteers to give a huge win over the No. 1 team in the country.”

However, the backlash followed over the altered post, where one netizen even pointed out the demise of Charlie Kirk, who is a former close ally of President Donald Trump.

“That’s fun. That’s the good stuff. And if I do get ‘kirked,’ please know that I love my kin and I love ball. Now…Let’s have a phenomenal NFL Sunday,” McAfee wrote on X.

As online comments referenced being ‘Kirked,’ McAfee called out the threats, highlighting how a fake post quickly turned into safety concerns. But this outrage actually stemmed from comments made by Outkick journalist Jon Root.

On the September 19, 2026 broadcast of College GameDay at Ole Miss, the Mississippi National Guard conducted a flyover. Reacting enthusiastically, McAfee stated: “We certainly appreciate the hell out of the American military. And if you’re not the United States of America and you hear that sound, your a-s better run.”

Later, Jon Root published an article and shared clips on OutKick highlighting the moment. The coverage framed the moment in a way that drew heavy political backlash. Critics and certain online spaces interpreted the context as a coded, aggressive jab targeting undocumented immigrants or border enforcement.

“Kinda sad I don’t look forward to College Gameday because of blatant propaganda pushing like this,” an X user said, per Root’s report.

However, after Pat McAfee’s called out Jon Root’s interpretation, the Outkick writer has come up with a statement.

“I’ve been a big supporter of Pat McAfee for years. I think he’s been a blessing to ESPN and sports media as a whole,” Root wrote on X. “Many disagree with me on that, but he genuinely loves our country, is incredibly charitable, wants sports to be fun and unifying again, he’s unafraid to call out overtly political/divisive nonsense (including my d–b post from last week) & he’s built an incredible business/platform. I respect that.

“Anyone calling for him to be m*rdered like Charlie Kirk simply because he loves our country, our troops, & has been friendly with Trump, are disgusting. Again, I messed up assuming he may have made an illegal immigration joke on Gameday, and pray that didn’t cause harm, but I would never wish ill on him, or even any host or personality I don’t agree with/often criticize on this platform.”

Root also condemned the violent threats made to McAfee based on the altered post made by the parody account Shane Tuttle and his coverage of the ESPN broadcaster’s pro-military comments.