Pat McAfee Gets Jam-Packed Pittsburgh Crowd to Sing "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

John Denver's hit tune echoed throughout the Pittsburgh Penguins' arena on Wednesday.
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Pat McAfee watches during workouts at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Pat McAfee watches during workouts at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

PPG Paints Arena had roughly a dozen thousand on hand Wednesday night as former West Virginia punter/kicker and Pittsburgh native, Pat McAfee, hosted his first-ever Big Night Aht event where he told stories, shared memories, and brought celebrities on stage.

At one point during the event, McAfee began talking about his time at WVU, which led into the singing of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by the whole arena.

“I f*ck up a lot. I don’t mean to. I promise it’s always in the sense of trying to make people laugh. And as I’ve kind of grown from Pittsburgh (to) down on those Country Roads, Take Me Home….(crowd sings lyrics).

“Hell yeah! I go to college down in Morgantown. Pitt never offered me, but if you’re from Pitt, you’ve already made my life miserable enough, okay? So you can sing Country Roads from the bottom of your heart because it’s a beautiful song.”

Although there was a strong representation of West Virginia at the event, it's still pretty incredible that the crowd's singing of Country Roads was that strong, especially in Pittsburgh.

And, of course, McAfee is talking about the missed field goals he had in the 2007 Backyard Brawl, which played a part in West Virginia falling to a then three-win Pitt team, ultimately keeping the Mountaineers out of the national championship. McAfee wasn't the only reason the Mountaineers lost that night, though. The offense couldn't get anything going, and Rich Rodriguez admitted to calling a "conservative" game.

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

Schuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.

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