Pat McAfee issues public apology for "perpetuating a lie" on RAW over viral rumor of Raiders owner Mark Davis and 26-year-old’s pregnancy
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis continues to make major news for the absurdity of rumors about his potential relationship with former dancer Hayden Hopkins. The rumors began when the two were seen together at a game in 2022.
In the past week, the rumors shifted, with many believing the baby Hopkins was carrying belonged to David.
Pat McAfee is the latest person to bear the brunt of this awkward situation. On Monday's episode of WWE Raw, he made this bold statement during a match between Braun Strowman and JD McDonagh:
“A lot of people look at the size difference and think JD has no chance. Mark Davis is 70 years old and is expecting a child with a 26-year-old. Anything is possible in this modern world!”
But Hopkins has since denied that Davis is the father, leading the former Indianapolis Colts punter to apologize on his eponymous show on Tuesday:
“I apologize for perpetuating a lie. I understand how happy you guys should be at this moment. It would suck to have a 70-year-old billionaire looming over it. So I’d like to apologize to Hayden and let the world know, hey, we've got to make sure we get these things right.
"I spread lies in the middle of the Braun Strowman-JD McDonagh match last night. Mark Davis is not the father.”
Mark Davis-Hayden Hopkins saga shows how rumors become "true" in social media age
Obviously, as stated above, Mark Davis and Hayden Hopkins are neither dating nor expecting. However, as "Awful Announcing's" Sean Keeler opines, the cursory circumstances seemingly supported them being romantically linked.
Not only were they spotted together in 2022 (and at least once more after that), but also the Las Vegas Raiders owner is childless. So when Hopkins announced her pregnancy, media outlets like "Essentially Sports" and "OutKick" were quick to jump to conclusions based on the data they had with their eyes and in their minds. Keeler wrote:
"In the days after Hopkins’ announcement, websites and social media accounts started discussing the story and quite a few of them skipped past the formality of questioning their relationship and just presumed the two were together.
"It felt like the kind of thing people wanted to be true, so it became true."
He concludes with this warning:
"This story should be the latest in a long series of reminders not to take the information you see online as factual until it’s either proven or credible journalists have a say."
Both Davis and the Raiders have yet to respond to the matter.