Even though it seems like Pat McAfee can do anything at times, it seems even he has his limits.
The WWE SmackDown announcer (and occasional wrestler), host of “The Pat McAfee Show” and former NFL punter announced today that he was going to leave his role as color commentator on Friday nights next to Michael Cole due to his new gig on ESPN’s College GameDay.
Media outlets, including the New York Post, reported Tuesday that McAfee had agreed to join College GameDay full time. Those stories indicated that he planned on continuing his WWE role and his daily YouTube show.
“The original thought for me was I could do SmackDown and GameDay,” McAfee said on his show earlier today. But he said WWE told him that traveling back and forth from one show to the other (GameDay airs on Saturday mornings) wouldn’t be good for his health, his family or “anything.” and would welcome him back when the time was right.
“So SmackDown will be on hold for a little bit while I do College GameDay,” McAfee said. “I’m still very much in the WWE family.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque tweeted his support for McAfee’s career move as well.
.@PatMcAfeeShow approached us about his amazing opportunity with College GameDay. We’d never stand in Pat’s way, as he continues to architect his exceptional career.
Pat will remain a member of the @WWE Universe and we look forward to his return. #UpToSomethingSZN
— Triple H (@TripleH) September 7, 2022
McAfee’s first work with WWE came as a guest commentator for NXT TakeOver shows in 2018, and he joined SmackDown in a full time capacity in April 2021. He’s been a fixture on the Friday night show ever since, providing an enthusiastic, fan-like perspective to Cole’s more straightforward play-by-play persona.
McAfee has also competed in WWE events five times, beginning with a loss to Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX in August 2020. His most recent in-ring appearance came just a few months ago at SummerSlam, where he defeated Happy Corbin.