​Credit: The Michael Kay Show; Kirby Lee – Imagn ImagesPat McAfee opened up this week about his fears as a public figure and live performer, sparking a full news cycle of industry responses.The daily show host and College GameDay star took issue with the University of Utah for egging on its students to tease McAfee in a social media video, alluding to the murder of Charlie Kirk at nearby Utah Valley University in a long rant on his show Monday. Later, a report revealed the FBI contacted McAfee about his safety after Kirk’s death, which McAfee confirmed on Thursday.While McAfee seemed to leap to the conclusion that the Utes’ social media video could endanger him while he hosted GameDay, longtime New York City sports host Michael Kay defended the controversial ESPN star on his radio show.“Did he extrapolate too much? Well, we don’t know what he’s feeling,” Kay said Thursday on his ESPN New York show. “We don’t know the fear that he has about taking the stage every day in front of all those kids.”Kay then directed his attention toward McAfee’s critics.“People are saying he’s thin-skinned and that he reads everything about him. You’re all full of it,” he said.“Pat McAfee is grilled every single time he opens his mouth. Maybe he’s not your cup of tea, but I’ll tell you what. He’s built one heck of a career, and he’s making a truckload of money. And he’s on every major portal that ESPN has. Everything. Monday Night Football, College GameDay, and then he has his show, which he owns. Brilliant businessman, and knows exactly about the zeitgeist of this country. But we’re going to tell him that he shouldn’t be thin-skinned. You people don’t know what this business is like.”ICYMI: @RealMichaelKay defends @PatMcAfeeShow. https://t.co/Yl1Vhu9Wpj— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) October 29, 2026Of course, successful public figures often get the most criticism. As Kay acknowledged about his own hyper-awareness toward what the audience is saying, it is part of the job.But Kay defended McAfee’s engagement with that noise as well.“Don’t tell him that he shouldn’t care about the critics or the people that say nasty things about him,” Kay said. “You get in this position. You see what it feels like. You see if it’s fun. You see if it doesn’t make you second-guess some of the stuff you do. Even though most of the people that are saying it, they would have no idea how to do your job, and couldn’t do it one-hundredth as well as you do.”Some of what the Utes’ video teased McAfee about, and what fans dislike about him, relates to his persona as a sports host. But much of the disdain for McAfee also comes from the guests he books, his commentary on political and social issues, and his frequentembrace of the Trump administration. McAfee noted this in a post on X following his on-air monologue.McAfee complains that outlets take him out of context and don’t cover him fairly on these matters. He often push