"Offense Taken": Pat McAfee Responds to Johnny Knoxville Mocking His New Album on ESPN's College GameDay

Farheen Fathima Sun, September 27, 2026 at 3:00 AM UTC

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November 15, 2025, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA: November 15, 2025: Pat McAfee on ESPN College Game Day during the University of Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh PA. Brook Ward / Apparent Media Group Pittsburgh USA – ZUMAa234 20251115_zsa_a234_326 Copyright: xAMGx ©IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

Johnny Knoxville gave co-host Pat McAfee plenty of reasons to laugh during ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, but one joke landed directly on McAfee’s recently released music. Knoxville, who was the show’s celebrity guest picker for the Tennessee-Texas matchup, took a shot at McAfee’s controversial debut album while making another game pick.

“I’m so sure about this game that if Missouri loses, I will punish myself by listening to Pat McAfee’s new album on repeat until Halloween,” Knoxville said, before adding two simple words to soften the jab: “No offense.”

“Offense taken,” McAfee replied after the panel shared some laughs.

The game in question was the Mississippi State vs. Missouri matchup. The latter has defeated Mississippi State four times in the past.

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The exchange was brief, but Knoxville was playing off something that had already become a talking point. McAfee’s debut album, “The Diary of a Polarizing Figure,” was released August 14 and marked a major departure from the ESPN personality’s usual work in sports media. It has 14 tracks and blends country with rock and hip-hop influences. McAfee had previously released “Dookie” as a single in 2025 before putting together the full album.

McAfee has said the album grew out of something he had been doing for years. He explained that he had spent about two decades writing lyrics, choruses, and melodies in his phone’s notes, often using them to process whatever was happening in his life.

“I would just write random lyrics or choruses or melodies just to get me through life, what I was going through, to motivate me to keep going, my perspective on things. So for like 20 years, I’ve been writing these, and I got a lot of them.

“I write in bars… and I’m not talking about in actual alcoholic bars. I’m talking about like bars is how I kind of write. I think people call it journaling and diary or whatever for like the last 20 years, in my notes section.”

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Some critics found genuine positives in the project, particularly in McAfee’s songwriting. A Taste of Country review credited him with showing an understanding of song structure and highlighted tracks such as “Smokin’” and “Young Me,” while arguing that the album would have worked better as a shorter project.

There has also been some support from inside McAfee’s ESPN circle. Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, after listening to the album, claimed that “the album is legit good good.” McAfee thanked him afterward and joked that Orlovsky had a “golden ear.”

However, an overwhelming number of listeners called out McAfee for giving them a poor album. McAfee’s co-collaborator and country musician Ernest revealed that the host had used AI songwriting tool, furthering the narrative of the album being pure AI slop.

However, McAfee stood tall against the backlash.

“It sucks,” he wrote on his Instagram Story. “I don’t love it.. being a ‘polarizing figure’ isn’t fun, I’d like to be liked by everybody but it’s just not my reality.. never has been BUT, everything always sounds like an echo. Folks trying to impress each other. I understand folks hate me but I also know folks are definitely gonna let their jokes fly about me.. Charge it to the game.

“I like the songs a lot. I’m very proud of them. I wrote and sang every word for a 14 song album. The people who put the music around the words are legitimately some of the most talented musicians to ever exist.. so I just think 5-10-20 years from now when my kids are listening to the songs they’ll know who their dad is.. and for that, I’m pumped. Cheers man, thanks for the love.”

Thankfully, Pat McAfee has other things to look forward to. He will be traveling across the country for College GameDay, mark his first season being on Monday Night Countdown, and maybe attend the premiere of his Netflix movie, “The Mosquito Bowl.”

Exciting times.

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