In December, The Athletic will be highlighting the coaches, athletes and other figures who made the biggest impact in the U.S. sports we cover, as well as in the fields of sports business, media and culture. Next up in the series is our honoree in sports media: Pat McAfee, the former NFL punter who has found major success on legacy media properties (ESPN’s “College GameDay” and WWE’s “Smackdown”) as well his own “The Pat McAfee Show” on YouTube. The full schedule is here.
He backflipped into the Tennessee River in Knoxville. He grappled with Vince McMahon and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas. He hosted his eponymous daily YouTube show from Indianapolis. If it seemed that Pat McAfee was everywhere in 2022, it’s because he pretty much was. The rising star is The Athletic’s Sports Media Person of the Year.
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To mark the occasion, rather than hear from McAfee himself, the piece below offers thoughts from seven people who worked with him in 2022.
The ‘College GameDay’ producer
“What Pat brings week in and week out is instantaneous juice to the show,” says Jim Gaiero, ESPN “College GameDay” producer since 2016. “He has an uncanny ability to engage with the live crowd. A natural showman. My favorite moment this year is when he backflipped into the Tennessee River before the Tennessee–Alabama game. We were talking on the Friday before the show and I was like, ‘We’re going to have you go down with (reporter) Jess Sims to the Vol Navy (where boats line the Tennessee River to tailgate).’ Pat responds, ‘There’s a river there, so I feel like I gotta jump in.’ I told him, ‘OK, you do you.’ People were asking all day what he was going to do, and I kept saying, ‘Whatever the hell he wants.’ He ends up doing a massive backflip into the river on the show. It was awesome.”
The ‘Friday Night Smackdown’ host
“I first met Pat in late 2017 when WWE was looking for a talent from outside the wrestling world to add some insight into our fast-growing world at NXT,” says Michael Cole, the longtime play-by-play announcer for WWE. “My first impression of Pat was how real he was. There was no facade, no ego, just a cool dude with a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm. For whatever reason, we just clicked and became close friends. That chemistry would later pay off in our incredible run as a tandem on ‘Friday Night Smackdown’ on Fox.
“Pat was immediately successful as a broadcaster in our universe because of two things: First, Pat is a fan, and it comes out on the air. He wasn’t trained as a traditional broadcaster so has no built-in habits that we needed to break. His love for the product just oozes out of him. Second, Pat has endless energy and charisma. He makes everything sound big and important. He is one of the hardest-working people I have ever been around. He treats everyone equally, has no ego, and has a magnetic personality that draws people to him.
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“Pat helped reinvigorate my love for our business. I have been sitting in that chair at ringside for 25 years calling live sports entertainment every single week. I have missed two television shows over that period. As one can imagine, that amount of repetition can become tedious after time. Pat changed all that, and each week became a new adventure and a new chapter in my career. Pat also gave me the confidence to open up and have fun out there. One of my career highlights was calling Pat’s match at WrestleMania. He deserves all his success.”
‘The Pat McAfee Show’ producer
“As a guy who grew up watching and loving ‘College GameDay,’ for Pat to be on that desk every weekend is incredibly surreal,” says Ty Schmit, who has produced McAfee’s YouTube show since 2017. “Seeing Pat wrestle Vince McMahon (at WrestleMania 38 last April) and then hearing that glass break and (Stone Cold) Steve Austin coming down the ramp at Jerry World, culminating with Pat sharing beers with Stone Cold before getting a Stone Cold Stunner, is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I’ve gotten to do some insanely cool stuff working for Pat, and at some point, I’ll look back on it all and have to pinch myself because it doesn’t seem real. It doesn’t get lost on me, or anyone else that works for Pat, how truly lucky we are.
“We moved into a new massive office (The FanDuel ThunderDome) this year and were plagued with the same kind of technical issues that we faced at our old office. Regardless of whatever new sponsors or changes in terms of distribution that have happened with the show, the format and content never changed. Pat always just rolls with the punches when things go awry, and the show is better for it. He lets the rest of us know that we don’t need to panic. It’s one of the things that makes the show unique. Pat has really engrained living in the moment in all of us, focusing on the current task at hand and enjoying the process.”
The ESPN chairman
“It’s been incredible to see what Pat has accomplished without the support of a major sports media company,” says Jimmy Pitaro, who made it a priority to bring McAfee back to ESPN and did so in 2022. “I think that’s largely because he’s real, authentic and unafraid. His top attributes are exactly what we look for — he’s willing to say what he believes, he is genuine, incredibly knowledgeable and passionate. He resonates strongly among young fans, and he has a significant and engaged social presence. He’s that rare talent that both my teenagers and I find compelling.”
The ‘College GameDay’ on-air colleague
“I can’t even put into words what Pat has meant to the show and to me personally,” says college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. “I’ve known Pat for a few years. I’ve been begging him to come join us on ‘GameDay.’ I was a little glad that he and the company were able to come to terms. He brings an incredible amount of energy that’s authentic and real. It’s not just on the air. It’s in meetings. He works at it, he takes it (seriously). He loves the show. Even though he is kind of a wild guy and crazy and fun, you can really see how much respect he has for it. For me personally, 27 years into this, I can’t remember having more fun than I’ve had this year, and Pat is definitely a big part of that.”
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‘The Pat McAfee Show’ analyst
“We met briefly at the coin toss when I was playing a preseason game for the Bengals,” says A.J. Hawk, who played 11 seasons in the NFL, was part of a Super Bowl champion in Feb. 2011, and is now a full-time cast member on McAfee’s YouTube show. “Years later I started coming on his show every couple months. Pat is Pat all the time. There is no off-camera/off-mic Pat. People ask me if he’s always upbeat and funny off air. He is always the same person. I started doing five days a week with Pat a couple years ago. Everything happened organically, and I love it. I genuinely look forward to joining the show every single day. Pat has a unique skill for recognizing a talent someone has and giving them the opportunity to showcase what they have. He is very generous with both his time and money.”
GO DEEPER
Before the Brand: How Pat McAfee turned a $10K newspaper gig into media superstardom
The ‘College GameDay’ coordinating producer
“From the first moment Pat walked onto the ‘GameDay’ set, he provided the show with an immediate jolt of energy and enthusiasm,” says Drew Gallagher, who oversees production of ESPN’s college sports studio shows, including ‘College GameDay’ and the NFL Draft on ABC. “He instantly created a connection with our live crowd and our viewers. Pat’s ability to connect and relate to an audience, and vice versa, is pure and authentic. Watching the crowd respond to Pat each week, no matter where we went, was a clear indicator of the incredible and loyal following he has built.
“Pat excels at spontaneous conversation, and our discussions on the set really benefitted from Pat’s ability to speak off the cuff with strong opinion. Countless times this season he’d say something unplanned that would either have us in the truck burst out in laughter or we’d say, ‘Wow, hadn’t heard that point of view yet.’ The beauty of Pat is that none of it is orchestrated. But that doesn’t come without a baseline of knowledge, and Pat’s show preparation was relentless all season. Just as important has been what Pat has brought to the show behind the scenes. His positive energy rubs off on everyone the instant he walks into our production office. It’s hard not to smile when you’re around Pat. He’s one of the most genuine and good-hearted people you’ll meet.
“I remember our Friday (Sept. 16) at Appalachian State. Pat had just done his daily show and there was a huge crowd of students gathered behind our set. Pat stayed for at least another full hour, just hanging out and interacting with the students. More than just autographs and selfies, he conversed and engaged with every person there who wanted to get their chance to see him. Scenes like this played out every week in some form — at Kansas, where the crowd got him to chug his entire 32-ounce drink seconds before we came on air; at Tennessee, where he spontaneously conducted the “Pride of the Southland Band” with his old pal Peyton Manning; at Montana State, where he eagerly wrestled a steer to the ground at the urging of the rodeo team. Working with Pat has been a great reminder for all of us to never take our audience for granted — and to never take ourselves too seriously.”
GO DEEPER
The Athletic's Sportspersons of the Year: The athletes and coaches who defined 2022
(Illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; photo: Steve Limentani / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
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