Pat McAfee corrects ESPN headgear rumor as network adds him to Monday Night Football panel
Pat McAfee used X to rebut a widely circulating claim that he would take over Lee Corso's headgear tradition on ESPN's College GameDay. He wrote that the segment was retired after week one of last season, when Corso went perfect on his picks, and attributed the rumor to fabrication. The correction lands as ESPN adds McAfee to the Monday Night Football panel, a move OutKick's Nightcaps column links to three consecutive years of College GameDay ratings growth.
Key takeaways
- Pat McAfee used X to deny a widely circulating rumor that he would take over Lee Corso's headgear-pick tradition on ESPN's College GameDay.
- McAfee said the headgear segment was retired after week one of last season, when Corso went perfect on his picks.
- ESPN is adding McAfee to the Monday Night Football panel, a move OutKick's Nightcaps column links to three consecutive years of College GameDay ratings growth.
- OutKick presumes the Monday Night Football addition comes at Ryan Clark's expense on the panel.
- OutKick argues the Kevin Hart overexposure comparison does not apply, citing three straight years of GameDay audience growth since McAfee joined.
Pat McAfee used X to rebut a widely circulating claim that he would take over Lee Corso's headgear tradition on ESPN's College GameDay. He wrote that the segment was retired after week one of last season, when Corso went perfect on his picks, and attributed the rumor to fabrication. The correction lands as ESPN adds McAfee to the Monday Night Football panel, a move OutKick's Nightcaps column links to three consecutive years of College GameDay ratings growth.
The ESPN footprint question
McAfee wrote on X: "I have come to a fun chapter where folks just make stuff up to make me look like a bigger a**hole." The Monday Night Football addition is presumed by OutKick's column to come at Ryan Clark's expense on the panel.
Online fatigue is visible. OutKick acknowledges it but argues the Kevin Hart comparison critics reach for does not transfer. Hart appeared in nearly every major release for roughly five consecutive years in the mid-2010s. College GameDay is on different footing. The audience has grown for three straight years since McAfee joined, per the column, and ESPN is broadening his footprint because that number holds. Kirk Herbstreit is among the names OutKick cites as having benefited from the dynamic.
The kicking segment that closes each GameDay broadcast also factors into the case. OutKick's columnist calls it arguably the greatest segment in pregame television history.
What is ahead
The first real college football game is roughly 10 days from the column's publication date. NFL preseason action is already underway. Fantasy football drafts are launching within the week. Live-week scrutiny on both GameDay and Monday Night Football arrives quickly.
Early regular-season viewership on Monday Night Football will be the first real read on whether the expanded arrangement sustains the ratings line.
The Nightcaps column also covers Lindsey Vonn back in training after her February knee injury. Reader discussion of the best sports film produced a plurality for Remember the Titans, with Miracle, Bull Durham, and the 1951 original Angels in the Outfield also named. The thread picked up in part after the death of Hayden Panettiere at 36.
Filed by the newsroom of MarketPR on August 19, 2026. Source: foxnews.com. Indicative figures are not investment advice.