Pat McAfee is livid that the United States Under-20 football team lost to Japan in a sport that Americans invented. It wasn’t even close, as Japan dominated their way to a 41-20 victory to enter the gold medal matchup.
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In addition to the sport bearing the country’s name, Team USA has played in the past five gold medal games of this International Federation of American Football-sanctioned tournament. Household names like Mac Jones, Jonathan Taylor, Jordan Poyer, and Chase Young have played in previous editions.
If that’s how good the past teams were, there’s no excuse for the American team to lose this badly in American football. McAfee clearly shares this sentiment, opening a can of worms by suggesting issues with NIL money or player compensation may have contributed to the defeat.
“We’re talking about a pretty good alumni, and then all of a sudden, the first time I see them playing football, they’re getting their a**es beat by Japan in an American football tournament. We named the game!” McAfee said on his show.
Former NFL linebacker A.J. Hawk pleaded for McAfee to stop showing the game footage because the American players didn’t exercise proper leverage and pursuit angles. Those mistakes can be forgiven if they happened in only one or two instances.
The lack of situational football awareness is a concern because Japan scored four rushing touchdowns, including a 69-yard score from Taisei Urushibara. The Japanese already had 27 points on the board before the Americans scored a touchdown.
McAfee also questioned why college football stars under 20 were excluded from this team. It would have been a different story if the likes of Caleb Downs had been included. In addition to having the athletes pay for the expenses, player selection was based on the credentials sent by the aspirants.
Former NFL GM Michael Lombardi Agrees With Pat McAfee’s Grievances
The long-time front office executive has extensive experience in talent evaluation. Therefore, he knows when football players are doing well or otherwise. That’s why he seconded McAfee’s frustration regarding this shocking outcome.
To his point, playing a game someone invented should give that person or team massive leverage. That advantage was non-existent, and Lombardi found this result unacceptable.
“That’s embarrassing. We can’t have that. We can’t allow that. We invented the game,” Lombardi said. “How the hell do we get beat in a game we invented? Even on the touchdown throw, they blow the protection on the touchdown throw, and we still can’t make a play on it. What are we doing here?”
The lens that McAfee and his co-hosts placed on this issue should bring changes to the program’s administration. But placing the blame solely on Team USA for their hurdles is like taking away from Japan’s exemplary effort. They did not let up, even with a sizeable lead, and played with sustained intensity throughout the game.
That being said, American football isn’t foreign to the Japanese because the Americans introduced the sport in the 1930s. They also have eight collegiate football leagues spanning four islands. Meanwhile, the Japan X-League started in 1971 and has three tiers of American football competitions.
As of writing, over 30 Americans play in the X-League, including two-time X-League Most Valuable Player Trashaun Nixon.
