ESPN star Pat McAfee took a playful shot at Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman during live coverage ahead of the College Football Championship game.
Despite his team failing to make the College Football Playoffs and their subsequent outraged protest over the snub, Freeman joined McAfee and co. on College GameDay ahead of the title showdown between Miami and Indiana on Monday night.
His guest appearance on the ESPN program came one week after the coach had been cleared of explosive battery charges related to allegations of a physical confrontation with a rival wrestling coach at his son’s high school competition.
Yet, McAfee didn’t pass up on the chance to mock Freeman with a sly dig at the allegations during the pregame show.
During the broadcast, McAfee humorously questioned Freeman about a hypothetical fight with Miami’s coach, Mario Cristobal, which prompted a lighthearted response from the Fighting Irish chief.
‘You know, I just turned 40 and I’m done,’ Freeman playfully responded. ‘I’m retired.’
ESPN star Pat McAfee took a playful shot at Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman
Freeman appeared on College GameDay as a guest ahead of the national title game
‘Oh yeah, we don’t do any fighting,’ McAfee hilariously fired back, with a clear nod to the charges against Freeman being dropped.
The jibe sent Freeman and the panel into a fit of laughter with the coach adding: ‘Alleged.’
Freeman and his family were in attendance at son Vinny’s match at an Indiana high school on January 3, after which he was alleged to have become involved in a physical altercation with a rival coach.
Notre Dame immediately backed their coach with a strong rebuttal, and it has since been confirmed that Freeman will not face any further charges after prosecutors could not find enough evidence to pursue a case.
The incident was first reported by the South Bend Tribune on January 11, with a police report from New Prairie High School wrestling assistant coach Chris Fleeger alleging that Freeman had become physical with him.
Per the police report, it is alleged that Freeman’s son Vinny, 17, lost his match against Hanover Central senior Israel Sinnott and was then escorted from the mat by his father Marcus and Penn head coach Brad Harper.
It is at that point that words were exchanged between the group and Fleeger, which then allegedly turned physical as Freeman walked into the hallway.
In the initial report, police did not disclose the extent of the alleged physical contact, while it is also claimed that Freeman’s wife Joanna – Vinny’s mother – engaged in a shouting match with Fleeger, before law enforcement and school officials broke the two groups up.
Freeman was attending his son’s wrestling match on January 3 at Mishawaka High School, where New Prairie high assistant coach Chris Fleeger (pictured) claimed he was shoved
Freeman and his wife were reportedly accosted in the hallway at the Indiana high school
While Freeman and his family were not asked to leave the premises, they did so, and Vinny was one of just two competing athletes not present on the podium from the 112 eligible, per reports.
In the aftermath, it has been determined that Freeman wasn’t guilty of any wrongdoing.
With his slate clean, Freeman addressed the matter for the first time last week, speaking out at a press conference at Notre Dame.
‘First of all I want to thank Notre Dame for their support and immediate response to this matter,’ he began, in a pre-prepared statement to the media. ‘I’m grateful for their trust and defense of me even before the video evidence was released.
‘I also want to thank the Penn High School administration, the community, and countless others who have reached out to me and my family.’
Freeman then went on to ‘commend the journalists who handled their reporting with integrity’, barring ‘one particular local media outlet and a reporter’, which he declined to name.
Vinny Freeman, who recently committed to Cornell, was competing for Penn High
Freeman has seven children, six with his current wife Joanna (all are pictured above)
In addition, he said of the reporter: ‘Because they chose not to [handle with integrity], my family and I have been dragged through the mud unnecessarily with clickbait headlines.
‘The reality is I behaved in a respectful and professional manner while protecting my family. And that should have been the only headline.
‘I know I’m a public figure and I understand the scrutiny that comes with that. That scrutiny should not extend to my children or any other child of a public figure.’
Freeman went on to insist he was ‘confident’ that he would face no further charges ‘because I know I did not touch anyone in a rude, angry or disrespectful way’.
