'Need to go back': Utah appears to have won over ESPN's Pat McAfee

SALT LAKE CITY — It appears that Pat McAfee, who has become one of ESPN's leading broadcast personalities in recent years, is now Utah's newest fan.

That is the entire state of Utah.

The former NFL punter spent a good deal of his Monday broadcast of "The Pat McAfee Show" rehashing his initial impressions of the state after sitting courtside during the Utah Jazz's thrilling 120-118 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night and broadcasting from the University of Utah for ESPN's "College GameDay" this weekend.

The whole experience seems to have left him wanting more.

"I'm not a skier or do the snow stuff, so I've never really had a chance to go to Utah for any reason — need to go back," he said during the program. "Everybody was nice, the views were insane (and) the weather was fantastic. ... I loved it."

Later on, McAfee dove into more about his time at the Delta Center, where he took the game next to Jazz owner Ryan Smith. Other employees of the show said they were left in awe by meeting Hall of Famer and part-owner Dwyane Wade, calling the team the "best organization" afterward.

McAfee, who called the Jazz home a "loud house," said he also met with the team's coaches and players, even offering forward Kelly Olynyk $10,000 toward a charity of his choice if he hit a 3-pointer during the second half of the game — something Olynyk cashed in on … twice.

"I'm riding with the Jazz because of how nice they were to us," McAfee said. "It was awesome. ... It was the coolest basketball experience I've ever had, and I'm very, very grateful to the Utah Jazz for being so hospitable."

McAfee's rise in the sports broadcast world began quickly after his NFL career ended at the end of the 2016 season. He started with stints at Fox Sports and Barstool Sports before landing with ESPN in 2019.

After a brief departure, he returned to ESPN last year and is featured in many of its football programs, though his brash broadcast persona is often met with mixed opinions. The Athletic found that nearly half of the people it surveyed didn't like his inclusion on "College GameDay."

Regardless, the audience interest in his streaming program garnered a massive five-year, $85 million deal with ESPN earlier this year, the New York Post reported in May.

Some of that broadcast money may just go into the Beehive State in the future.

"I will now be paying a lot of attention to the entire state of Utah," McAfee said Monday. "I already told my wife that we need to buy skis because we've got to go do what they do out there. ... I would like to get back as soon as possible."

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