Pat McAfee responded to criticism this week regarding his decision to cover Team USA men’s team’s bar tab following their Olympic gold medal victory.

After Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to win their first men’s hockey gold since 1980, the team celebrated at Miami’s E11EVEN nightclub where they accumulated a $150,000 tab before McAfee announced he would cover the cost.

Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show during the NFL Combine, the ESPN host addressed backlash he received after paying the team’s $150,000 bar bill at a Miami nightclub.

“I’ve learned in the American-Canada disagreements, I somehow find my way to the middle,” McAfee explained. “And the buying of the tab felt like just this is an obvious move. This is what should happen, thought somebody else was going to do it.”

“That obviously turns into me being a sexist, racist, everything like that, which is just so absurd. Really cool. Yeah, it’s really cool that that happens by a small amount of people that we cannot let.”

McAfee described his critics as people “having a bit of a melter” who spend “basically every day of their life, seemingly looking for melters to have a melter.”

“But we would like to let them know that you would never outweigh the happiness and the unity that sports bring. So you can all eat shit,” he concluded.

McAfee stated the criticism came from a small group and should not overshadow Team USA’s achievement.

The $150,000 celebration tab at E11EVEN was notable, though the Florida Panthers reportedly spent $500,000 at the same venue following their Stanley Cup victory last summer.

Team USA celebrated to the fullest after gold medal win

Following their overtime victory against Canada, Team USA squad celebrated their historic gold medal win with an evening in Miami that began with dinner at Cote Korean steakhouse in the Design District. The team arrived at E11EVEN at 11 p.m. to a crowd of over 2,000 fans, walking the red carpet with their gold medals before heading into the club where bottle parades were waiting for them.

The celebration featured several patriotic moments throughout the evening. Matthew Tkachuk grabbed the mic early on and led the entire club in a singalong to the Toby Keith song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue,” while team members sang several other songs including The Star-Spangled Banner “We Are the Champions” and “God Bless the USA” at different times through the night.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck took a turn at the microphone and asked the crowd for a round of applause for his teammates leading chants of “USA.”

“It’s absolutely incredible, and it’s only getting better and better,” Matthew Tkachuk said at the venue. “We’re only here for one night. I’m gonna try to show them a good night.”

Tkachuk called Hellebuyck “the savior and secretary of defense” while on stage and Brady Tkachuk hoisted Jack Hughes onto his shoulders as Hughes waved an American flag to the crowd.