Travis Kelce’s good friend Pat McAfee slammed critics of the NFL star’s wedding to Taylor Swift as he spilled the beans on what it was like to celebrate the power couple getting married at Madison Square Garden.

Returning to host his sports talkshow after a short break on ESPN, it didn’t take McAfee long to discuss witnessing Kelce and Swift tie the knot alongside his wife, Samantha.

But as he was gushing about witnessing Paul McCartney and Stevie Nicks perform with Swift and feasting on ‘Nobu buffets everywhere’, he was visibly caught off-guard when one of his cohosts called out from off-camera: ‘I was told it was tacky.’

McAfee bristled at the comment, taking a moment to compose himself before saying: ‘It was, right… you know, there’s a lot of things going on in the sports, let’s move on.’ 

But the conversation stayed on McAfee’s experience at the wedding, with the ESPN host then hitting out at critics of the big day.

‘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 of the backlash from Kelce’s friends about the wedding guest list.

Pat McAfee has slammed critics of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s wedding in New York

The power couple invited around 1,000 guests to their July 3 MSG wedding 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?’

McAfee and Kelce have kept a close connection for a long time. After the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025, it was McAfee who broke the news that Kelce was not retiring and would instead play on. 

He read out a text from Kelce live on the air, which said: ‘My dog! I’m coming back for sure.

‘Gonna try and get to the best shape I’ve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop. Got a real bad taste in my mouth with how I played in that last game and how I got the guys ready for battle. I can’t go out like that!’