September 21, 2021
Pat McAfee was drafted to be a punter in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He grew up playing soccer in Plum, Pennsylvania and he had interest from multiple Division I schools for soccer. He also played football his junior and senior year, kicking and punting for his high school team. In his senior year, he borrowed $100 from a friend and attended an illegal poker game where he turned the money into $1400. With financial help from his father, he then planned a trip to a kicking camp in Miami, Florida. Here he wowed scouts with his kicking power, making nine straight field goals and missing a seventy yarder slightly to the right. His performance at the camp led to him being offered a scholarship to West Virginia University where he attended. He had a very successful career in college both punting and kicking and was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award his senior year, which honors the best collegiate punter.
McAfee was a two time pro bowler and was named Pro Football Focus’s Punter of the Decade. According to Spotrac, he earned over $15 million in his career. However, in 2016, McAfee announced his retirement to join Barstool Sports. He left two years on his contract and in these two years, he left $6 million left on the table. This became a national story. No one could imagine a punter giving up that much money. Criticism came from all directions in the sports media world. Pat has a large personality and is not afraid to say what is on his mind or hold grudges. He was one of the first NFL players to join Twitter and did not hesitate to call anyone out who may be insulting a kicker or punter. Pundits remembered this and went at him. Michael Wilbon of ABC and ESPN commented “Somebody needs to stage an intervention. People who know this guy, get to him now. Make him put his helmet back on and get to camp.”
There was no intervention. In fact, with the help of his friends, Pat McAfee started The Pat McAfee Show which he hosts on SiriusXM. He left Barstool Sports in 2018, but the show has continued both on SiriusXM as well as YouTube. The show is three hours, where he and his friends go back and forth discussing sports, mainly football. In 2020, he signed a lucrative deal with FanDuel to be the main sponsor of his show. On YouTube, The Pat McAfee Show now has 1.48 million subscribers averages over 150 thousand views a day. Pat has had nothing but success since leaving the NFL, also commentating on college and NFL football games on both Fox and ESPN. One thing McAfee never did, was settle. He never got too comfortable and he always stayed true to himself. He took many chances and went against popular opinion which is absolutely inspiring.