Pat McAfee Was Surprised By Backlash Over Signing Lucrative ESPN Deal

Pat McAfee is renowned as a highly talented and imaginative figure in the WWE. He has demonstrated his exceptional abilities as both a wrestler and an accomplished commentator on Friday Night SmackDown. McAfee might not have been seen on WWE television for a long time, but he made sure to sign a very lucrative deal with ESPN in the meantime. That said, he got a lot of backlash for this move and it appears that he didn’t expect the backlash at all.

Pat McAfee made his WWE debut in 2018 and quickly established a feud with Adam Cole. By 2021, he had transitioned to being a color commentator on SmackDown, joining Michael Cole. McAfee’s charming personality and distinctive style have earned him accolades from fans and critics alike, as he has brought a new perspective to the commentary role.

He was last seen on WWE television during the Royal Rumble and has been absent since. In the meantime, the former NFL punter made sure to sign a lucrative $10 million a year deal with ESPN, which was a major thing for him.

While speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee and his co-hosts addressed the online backlash for him signing the ESPN deal. Pat McAfee made it clear that he did not expect to receive that kind of backlash whatsoever.

“I think the reason why I did not expect it is because – it didn’t even cross my mind. At this stage, and we’re young, obviously, we’re 20 years younger than pretty much everybody else that’s on TV at this stage, so we are young, but I feel like our people were the ones that were most mad.”

Pat McAfee also celebrated the birth of his first child earlier this month, so he has a lot of things to keep himself busy with. Regardless, we’ll have to see if McAfee will return to WWE somewhere down the line.

What’s your view on what Pat McAfee said? Are you shocked he got hate for his ESPN deal? Let us know in the comments below.