The Rise of Pat McAfee: From College Kicker to Media Phenomenon

Pat McAfee has become a prominent figure in the world of sports and entertainment. McAfee's career began on the football field, but his personality and drive have led him to success as a sports analyst, commentator, and media personality.

Early Life and High School Career

Patrick Justin McAfee was born on May 2, 1987, in Plum, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He demonstrated his athletic ability at Plum High School, participating in soccer, volleyball, and football. McAfee excelled in all three sports, drawing collegiate interest. As a sophomore in high school, he won a national Punt, Pass, and Kick competition.

During his senior year, McAfee showcased his determination by using $1,400 he won in an illegal poker game to travel to Miami for a national field goal competition. He made nine consecutive field goals, starting at 25 yards and moving five yards out each time. He narrowly missed a 70-yard field goal, demonstrating his impressive kicking ability.

College Football at West Virginia University

McAfee earned the starting kicker position at West Virginia University (WVU) as a freshman, majoring in communications. During his freshman year, he made 11 of 18 field goal attempts and recorded 20 touchbacks on 70 kickoffs.

One of McAfee's most memorable moments occurred during a triple-overtime win against Louisville. The Mountaineers won the game 46-44. The win was reached after a successful onside kick executed by McAfee.

McAfee's junior season began with a missed extra point against Western Michigan, ending his streak of 106 consecutive extra points. He concluded the season at the Fiesta Bowl, making two of four field goal attempts, with one kick blocked by Oklahoma.

In a game against the Pitt Panthers, McAfee missed two field goals. Ultimately, the Mountaineers lost the game 13-9. As a result, the team was removed from consideration for the BCS National Championship Game. Despite this setback, he was named a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award, which recognizes the best collegiate kicker. McAfee earned Big East Special Team Player of the Week honors three times in 2007 and was named second-team All-Big East.

McAfee began his senior year with a victory over Villanova. During the game he kicked two field goals, including a career long of 52 yards, six extra points, and two punts. In a subsequent win over Marshall, McAfee became the school's all-time leading scorer with a field goal, surpassing Slaton. Against Cincinnati, the Mountaineers trailed by 13 points with just over a minute left in regulation. However, they managed to reduce the deficit to 3 points with a safety, touchdown, and two-point conversion. McAfee's onside kick was recovered with 18 seconds remaining.

McAfee finished his senior year with a career-best 44.7 yards per punt average, a Big East-leading 23 punts inside the 20-yard line, and a career-high 2,639 yards with a 65-yard long. He was invited to the 2009 Senior Bowl in Alabama, joining Mountaineers Pat White and Ellis Lankster. McAfee started the Senior Bowl as the South team's kicker. McAfee performed in the 11th annual State Farm College Football All-Star Challenge, winning the "round the world" kicking competition.

NFL Career with the Indianapolis Colts

McAfee was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He handled punting and kickoff duties for the Colts and held for extra points and field goals, a position he had never played before.

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In his rookie year, McAfee played in Super Bowl XLIV, where the Colts lost to the New Orleans Saints. McAfee was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September 2014. In Week 3 of the 2015 season, McAfee earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week against the Tennessee Titans. During this season he nearly entered a game as emergency quarterback after all three of the team's three listed quarterbacks on the team came down with injuries; however, he never officially took the field. McAfee held the role of emergency quarterback at the Colts throughout his tenure with the team, and was one of only four punters in the NFL to hold the role near the end of his career.

After eight seasons, McAfee retired from the NFL in February 2017 and stated he intended to join Barstool Sports as a contributor. During the 2020 NFL season, despite being out of the NFL for four years, fans began making a push for McAfee to come out of retirement to play for his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, who struggled with their punting during the season. McAfee himself added to the rumors by immediately tweeting a video of him punting after the Steelers released Dustin Colquitt without immediately signing a replacement. The team ended up re-signing Jordan Berry, who had been the team's punter for five years prior to the signing of Colquitt. On the September 16, 2021 episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke of his admiration for him, joking that he would wait until McAfee "had physically deteriorated a little bit", until he could sign him. However, McAfee could have potentially played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as both a placekicker and punter, after the Buccaneers put their special teams unit on the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of their game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Media Career

Following his retirement from the NFL, McAfee transitioned into a career in sports media, becoming a football analyst and a host of sports talk shows. In 2016, McAfee performed in stand-up events around Indiana. McAfee was a regular on the nationally syndicated morning radio program The Bob & Tom Show, itself based in Indianapolis. He has described co-host Bob Kevoian as one of his best friends during an interview on the Off the Air Podcast hosted by sports commentator Chick McGee. In 2018, McAfee made his professional baseball debut for the Washington Wild Things as a right-fielder and guest first base coach.

Pat McAfee Inc. (PMI)

McAfee founded Pat McAfee Inc. (PMI), which operates his charity, The Pat McAfee Foundation, and sells merchandise. PMI initially produced four podcasts: The Pat McAfee Show 2.0, That's Hockey Talk, Heartland Radio 2.0, and Good Bettor Bets. The former two are still in operation as of 2021, with The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 re-running clips from his daily show on Sirius XM, while That's Hockey Talk was originally co-hosted by former NFL center A. Q. Shipley, but Shipley was replaced by former NHL player Mike Rupp in 2021.

The Pat McAfee Show

In September 2019, McAfee began hosting a two-hour, weekday radio show, The Pat McAfee Show, syndicated by DAZN and Westwood One. In September 2020, The Pat McAfee Show moved to Sirius XM's Mad Dog Sports Radio. The show is also broadcast live on YouTube. Former NFL linebacker, and consistent collaborator, A. J. Hawk co-hosts the second and third hours of the show with McAfee. McAfee's former teammate Darius Butler co-hosts the show on Fridays when it is broadcast from Tampa, Florida. During the NFL season, McAfee frequently hosts Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on his program.

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In March 2021, PMI brought back The Best Wrestling Show, formerly known as Wrasslin' With Sports Entertainment, a wrestling podcast that had aired one episode in 2019. It is hosted by former WWE employee and PMI executive producer Mike Mansury, and Pittsburgh-based radio commentator & former World Championship Wrestling commentator Mark Madden.

Broadcasting Career

McAfee made his college football broadcasting debut on Fox in November 2018, calling a game between Baylor and Texas Tech. The news came after McAfee had auditioned for ESPN's Monday Night Football after Jason Witten's return to the Cowboys, though ESPN decided to retain its booth as is. In the same year, McAfee began making regular appearances on Get Up!. In September 2022, it was announced that McAfee would be returning to ESPN. Some of McAfee's work on ESPN has been controversial and resulted in legal repercussions.

In 2025, as a co-host of ESPN's College Gameday, McAfee had a weekly Kicking Contest, giving college students an opportunity to kick for prize money.

WWE Career

McAfee's involvement with WWE began in March 2009, with a match against The WarPig at an IWA East Coast show. Nine years later, in March 2018, McAfee was present at an NXT show in Indianapolis, where he prevented Adam Cole from winning by disqualification in his match against Aleister Black.

During 2018, McAfee began appearing on WWE programming as a pre-show analyst for the company's NXT TakeOver events, beginning with NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, where he continued his mini-feud with Adam Cole. He later appeared at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 and NXT TakeOver: WarGames. In December, it was reported that he had formally signed a multi-year contract with WWE, and officially signed the contract in February 2019. He then began hosting live watch-along of WWE's pay-per-views on YouTube, beginning with Fastlane, alongside a number of WWE wrestlers. In the buildup to WrestleMania, McAfee, his crew and various special guests travelled venue to venue in an RV, that his friend Zito got stuck under an awning at MetLife Stadium, which was filmed for Pat McAfee's Road to WrestleMania. Backstage at the event, McAfee got into an argument with Michael Cole, when Cole had criticized him for wearing tuxedo shorts. McAfee threatened to quit on the spot and was sent to another room while the situation was dealt with.

On April 16, 2021, WWE announced that McAfee had been moved to the SmackDown brand, serving as color commentator alongside Michael Cole. On March 3, 2022, on The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee would interview Vince McMahon, in which McMahon would offer McAfee a match at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania 38, McAfee would defeat Theory, before challenging Vince McMahon to an impromptu match straight after, which McMahon accepted and won. Following that match, Theory and McMahon would continue to attack McAfee until Stone Cold Steve Austin would interrupt and give all three of them a Stone Cold Stunner. His next on-screen feud was with Baron Corbin, defeating him at SummerSlam.

At Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023, McAfee made a surprise return for commentary right before the men's Royal Rumble match began. On January 27, McAfee once again returned at Royal Rumble as a surprise guest commentator and surprise entrant at #22 in the men's Royal Rumble match. McAfee returned on the premiere of Raw on Netflix on January 6, 2025, once again partnering with Michael Cole, and going on to become a full time commentator for the brand. On the April 21 episode of Raw, McAfee was attacked by Gunther after attempting to come to the aid of Michael Cole. A week later, McAfee explained his actions and asked stand-in RAW General Manager Nick Aldis to lift the ban on Gunther so he can battle him on the upcoming episode of Smackdown. Aldis initially refused, instead making the match between McAfee and Gunther at Backlash. On May 10, 2025, McAfee faced Gunther at Backlash in St. Louis, Missouri. Gunther choked McAfee out with a sleeper hold, thus winning via technical submission. A day later on Raw, he joined Michael Cole in the booth to celebrate the life of Sabu, who died on May 11, while Gunther resumed his rivalry with Jey Uso.

Legal Issues

On October 20, 2010, McAfee was arrested and charged with public intoxication. McAfee was found shirtless and wet, and alleged to have swum in a canal in Broad Ripple, a popular nightclub area in Indianapolis, at approximately 5:15 that morning after being reported by a woman who found him near her car. Police reported that he tested with a blood alcohol content of 0.15. The Colts later issued a one-game suspension to McAfee for his actions. Two weeks after being arrested, McAfee issued an apology for his actions. "Obviously I made a dumb decision on a night when things got out of control," he said.

Personal Life

McAfee is good friends with fellow wrestler and fellow former football player Thomas Pestock, best known by his ring name Baron Corbin. They were teammates while a part of the Indianapolis Colts and roommates during their rookie year.

Awards and Accomplishments

Worst Match of the Year (2022) vs. Theory
Rivalry of the Year (2020) vs. Adam Cole

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