Former Indianapolis Colts and current ESPN analyst Pat McAfee said being a commentator started out as a big joke and then morphed into more. McAfee has almost a cult following and his Twitter followers initially campaigned to have him replace Jason Witten on Monday Night Football.
Via Andrew Marchand in the New York Post:
“At the beginning, I thought it was a big joke, an absolute joke,” McAfee said. “My people started pushing for it.”
McAfee didn't end up getting that job, but he will be teamed up with Adam Amin and Matt Hasselbeck on Thursday nights for college football throughout the season. While most analyst's like to break down the X's and O's, McAfee hopes to bring a new style of analyzing.
“I’m not sure there are any people that have ever commentated games like me,” McAfee said. “Hopefully, I’m blazing a new trail for former players, who have a little bit of personality. Not just plucked [from] places for Xs and Os.”
Last season Pat McAfee got his first chance in a booth with Fox when the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions faced off, and he impressed. When the Lions went for a fake punt, the former punter in the booth got a little excited and went viral with his call.
Pat McAfee calling Matt Prater's fake field goal TD pass was unbelievable
(via @thecheckdown) https://t.co/mTd4iN3a4P
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 30, 2018
Fans seemed to really enjoy his work in the booth because he is a little different than most former players. It will be interesting to see how his style adapts to an entire season of calling plays for college football.