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Drew Gilbert celebrates after hitting a home run against the Rockies on September 3, 2025.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Drew Gilbert’s fame has been on a meteoric rise in the past few weeks.
His energy on the field and in the dugout has captivated fans around the baseball world.
But Gilbert received perhaps the biggest shoutout of his young career on Tuesday September 9, 2025 when media personality Pat McAfee, who is almost purely a football guy, shouted out Gilbert.
McAfee didn’t know anything about Gilbert before the episode of the show began, but after his fellow hosts told him about Gilbert and he saw just a few clips of his energy, McAfee was sold.
And after finding out that Gilbert is a former Tennessee Volunteer, McAfee immediately knew he had to meet Gilbert and get him on his biggest show.
“This guy’s a Tennessee Volunteer? We need him on GameDay,” McAfee said.
The Giants have October aspirations, sitting only 3 games behind the New York Mets for the final National League Wild Card spot. But when November rolls around, Gilbert would be a fantastic guest to have. The ratings on the show he comes on would do numbers.
Gilbert’s Tennessee Days
Drew Gilbert may not be a former college football player, but he is an SEC legend.
He starred in three years at Tennessee, hitting .314 with 22 home runs and 140 RBI in 141 games. He also showcased a stellar glove in center field.
The biggest moment of his college baseball career came in the 2021 NCAA tournament when he hit a walk-off Grand Slam to give the Volunteers a 9-8 win over Wright State.
He was also the 2022 SEC tournament MVP and the 2022 All-SEC first team.
Interestingly enough, he also played with Giants top pitching prospect Blade Tidwell at Tennessee. Tidwell and Gilbert both played in the Mets organization and both were traded to the Giants in the Tyler Rogers trade.
Tidwell and Gilbert could reunite once again, this time in the big leagues, as soon as later this season if Tidwell gets healthy.
Giants On GameDay
This would actually not be the first time that a big San Francisco Giants personality went on College GameDay.
Back in 2011, legendary Giants closer Brian Wilson went on GameDay as a guest picker. Wilson is also a SEC baseball legend, out of LSU.
Wilson showed up to the set in full LSU football uniform, complete with a maskless helmet. Lee Corso even put on a Giants hat and fake Wilson-esque beard.
A couple prominent baseball players appeared on College GameDay as recently as 2024. LSU alum and Pittsburgh Pirates star Paul Skenes went on the show as a guest picker alongside his girlfriend Livvy Dunne. Dunne also went to LSU and is a gymnast and influencer.
Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber also went on the show. Schwarber is an Indiana alum, and the Hoosiers football team had a great season in 2024, making a run to the College Football Playoff.
Giants fans, would you want to see Drew Gilbert on College GameDay alongside Pat McAfee? What other Giants player, past or present, would you want to see on the show?
Ethan Inman is a sports journalist covering the San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants and Las Vegas Raiders for heavy.com. He also co-hosts a college football podcast for The Voice of College Football, and writes about the NBA and MLB. He has previously covered the USC Trojans, the NHL, college baseball, and the intersection of sports and popular culture for other publications. He is based in the greater Los Angeles area. More about Ethan Inman
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