Pat McAfee spent his entire eight-year NFL career as a punter for the Indianapolis Colts. Now he has a wildly successful show called The Pat McAfee Show. The former All-Pro punter is also a commentator on WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown with Michael Cole. However, on his show on Wednesday, McAfee stated that he smacked down an offer to return to the field in a different football league.
The former two-time Pro Bowl punter was offered to kick in the upcoming USFL, which is set to kick off in April 2022. When talking to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and former NFL linebacker AJ Hawk, McAfee said he would rather buy one of the eight teams in the league than play in it. He jokingly said if they offered him to play quarterback in the USFL, he would do it. In his entire NFL career (127 games), McAfee threw two passes: one that was incomplete (back in 2014) and the other for 35 yards (in 2016).
The Pittsburgh Maulers are one of eight teams set to play in the USFL next April. The importance of this is that McAfee did state that he would buy one of these teams. Although he did not sound like he would, it would make sense if he did buy them. He was born in Plum, Pennsylvania, which is almost 19 miles from the city of Pittsburgh.
McAfee also attended high school in the city of Plum. He is a Pennsylvanian through and through. Buying the Pittsburgh Maulers, or at least a share of the Maulers, would be a big deal as the league makes its return after shutting down its initial run back in 1986. There's another factor that makes McAfee's business endeavor with the league a sensible one.
As mentioned earlier, McAfee is a commentator on Friday Night SmackDown, which airs on Fox. It would be a great cross-promotional move for all parties involved: McAfee, Fox Sports (who has the broadcasting rights to the USFL), and even WWE. If this happens, it would be a slam dunk move... or should one say, a powerful body slam move.