Pat McAfee
You may now know Pat McAfee as the host of the Pat McAfee show, a WWE commentator, or an analyst on College GameDay. Before those roles, he was an All-Pro NFL punter. He retired early at 29 due to injuries and pivoted into a sports media career. Since then, Pat has been an iconoclast. He is not the normal sports personality you see or hear; he wears tank tops, curses, and makes bold jokes. But can someone so unconventional work?
On his road to media superstardom, he had many doubters. People thought he was making a mistake retiring from the NFL so young. Pat went through an atypical route; he first hosted his show on SiriusXM before also streaming it on YouTube. McAfee worked for ESPN in 2019 before they let him go. He has ultimately proven them all wrong with his 2 million YouTube subscribers and getting rehired to be back on ESPN.
Quotes
“It’s been incredible to see what Pat has accomplished without the support of a major sports media company,”
Jimmy Pitaro
"Make them tear the uniform off of you... Look, somebody needs to stage an intervention. People who know this guy, get to him now. Make him put his helmet back on,"
Michael Wilbon
References
-
How Pat McAfee went from Colts punter to media superstardom: ‘He has the gift’
He has a gift. He has the gift. If there was another movie, ‘The Natural,’ that would be Pat McAfee, swinging the bat and the ball hitting the lights.
The Athletic
-
How ESPN landed Pat McAfee for ‘College GameDay’ and made the best college football hire of 2022
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro generally does not get involved in broadcaster hires at his company. Because ESPN employs close to 1,000 people who work in front of a camera, the company has a talent department charged with negotiating such contracts.
The Athletic
-
When those who know Pat McAfee knew he was different
DeVan asked him if he knew how to ride it. McAfee explained that he was riding the motorcycle in Indianapolis but he hadn’t figured out how to stop or start it, so every time he got to a stoplight, he’d pull into a parking lot and do circles until the light turned green.
The Athletic
