Pat McAfee, a close friend of Travis Kelce, has pushed back against criticism of the NFL star’s wedding to Taylor Swift, while sharing details from the couple’s high-profile celebration at Madison Square Garden.
McAfee returned to his ESPN sports talk show after a brief break and quickly turned the conversation to the star-studded ceremony, which he attended with his wife, Samantha.
As he enthusiastically recalled the night — including performances by Paul McCartney and Stevie Nicks alongside Swift, as well as what he described as “Nobu buffets everywhere” — McAfee appeared taken aback when an off-camera cohost interjected: “I was told it was tacky.”
The remark clearly caught McAfee’s attention. After pausing briefly, he replied: “It was, right… you know, there’s a lot of things going on in the sports, let’s move on.”
Still, the discussion soon returned to McAfee’s experience at the wedding, prompting the ESPN host to defend the event and take aim at those who criticized it.
“Just know that anything negative that has ever been thought about what that event was as itself is somebody that was not supposed to be there,” he said, before addressing some complaints reportedly raised by Kelce’s friends over the guest list.
Pat McAfee has defended Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s New York wedding against critics
The couple reportedly welcomed around 1,000 guests to their July 3 wedding at Madison Square Garden in New York
Taylor Lewan and Will Compton, ex-NFL players who are close friends of Kelce’s and host the popular Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, have made no secret of their shock at being snubbed by the Chiefs star in the last week.
‘I’m happy my name is not being dragged,’ McAfee said. ‘There was a lot of names getting dragged for being there and there is a lot going on at everybody’s wedding on who gets invited and who doesn’t get invited.
‘Me and my wife… didn’t understand why we were invited but we were very thankful and we let them know. We had a blast, it was incredible, everything was just obviously top of the line.
‘Travis Kelce seems very much in love, seems very happy.’
McAfee is believed to be closing in on a new ESPN deal worth around $60million a year – a hefty rise from his annual paypacket of $17m.
He’s not paid that much to avoid talking about any of the big moments connected to the world of sport and he started his segment by praising Kelce and Swift for pulling off such a flamboyant celebration.
‘It was the most spectacular evening I have ever been a part of,’ McAfee said.
‘Anybody that’s saying anything negative about that – now granted, shutting down parts of the city, you guys can have your thoughts on that – the event itself was the most spectacular, grand thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
McAfee attended the wedding alongside his wife Samantha and said it was ‘top of the line’
Taylor Lewan (left) and Will Compton second (left) were upset at being left out of the wedding
‘Taylor Swift’s one of the greatest creators the world has ever seen. Think about her brain going into her dream wedding and Travis Kelce’s energy going into the middle of it, the football world coming together with Hollywood.
‘Paul McCartney played a song he hadn’t played since 1960-something, Stevie Knicks played. Taylor was up there with them, obviously, Avril Lavigne.
‘I don’t want to give away too much but it was the greatest night of all time. That wedding was the perfect night. Nobu buffets everywhere.’
McAfee, who is presenting his show in Pittsburgh for this week’s MLB All-Star Game, also said that Patrick Mahomes looks in good health as he races to make the start of the NFL season in September after ACL surgery.
‘Patrick Mahomes, I know he was injured last year and I don’t want to give away too much stuff breaking from the wedding, Patrick Mahomes was in the middle of the dancefloor,’ McAfee added. ‘How could you not be?’
He also appeared to confirm that he signed an NDA ahead of being allowed in at MSG.
‘I’m sure there was something I agreed to, to not talk about it,’ he said at the start of the segment. ‘But from the things I have been reading from other people talking about it, there were no phones in there, it was all just memory.
‘I don’t have much in this world. I’ve got a sweet tank top collection… but my memory is pretty good. How could you forget anything that happened that night?’
