Pat McAfee knows exactly what the world needs in 2026.
More Pat McAfee.
The former Indianapolis Colts punter and kicker is seemingly everywhere already: as host of his own show every weekday on ESPN, as an analyst on “College GameDay” and guest on several other network shows, as a WWE commentator/participant until earlier this year, as host of multiple podcasts, etc.
McAfee, however, has not released an album full of songs written and sung entirely by the two-time Pro Bowl selection.
That situation will be rectified in a matter of weeks.
McAfee announced Wednesday that he would release his debut album, “The Diary of a Polarizing Figure,” on Aug. 14, a musical collaboration with country singer-songwriter Ernest.
“For as long as I can remember, my mere existence has made people hate me,” McAfee wrote in an X post announcing the project. “I've been writing songs about this for 20 years and it's time to leave them alone… A LOT of headlines and narratives… if I were to die, I'd like my kids to know exactly who their father is.”
While McAfee definitely has his detractors, it's interesting that he's releasing an album focused on the haters, considering his current popularity is such that he's reportedly in talks for a contract extension with ESPN that would pay him more than $60 million a year.
Some online commentators have criticized McAfee for the timing of his announcement, which comes a day after Walt Disney Co. fired several of his ESPN colleagues. McAfee reposted one of those complaints on X and commented simply: “The Diary of a Polarized Figure, August 14, 2026.”
He said Wednesday on the “Pat McAfee Show”: “There are a lot of things being said about me right now. [People] I'm going to listen to my answers through these songs because these types of situations have been happening to me throughout my entire life. … Literally since elementary school I've had people who just don't like me because I'm too loud and all that.”
In December, McAfee released a country rock single called “Dookie”, also a musical collaboration with Ernest. A press release at the time said that the single marked “a new partnership between McAfee and DeVille Records/Big Loud Records.”
Ernest told Whiskey Riff earlier this year that he and McAfee had recorded eight or nine songs together.
“Any EA Sports game should have a Pat McAfee song,” Ernest said when describing the former West Virginia standout's musical style. “It's an exaggeration in the locker room.”
Many athletes have attempted music careers, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success. It would seem that far fewer sportscasters have attempted the same crossover, with John Tesh probably the best-known example after his stint covering sporting events for CBS and NBC in the mid-1980s.
If he wants advice from a peer, perhaps McAfee could look to Terry Bradshaw, the four-time Super Bowl champion and veteran NFL analyst who has also released several country/gospel albums and even had a Top 10 country hit with a cover of “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry” in the 1970s.
McAfee said on his show that he “wrote all of this over the last 20 years or so in the notes section” of his phone.
“There are a lot of very personal things here,” he said. “It's been fun finding my singing voice. It's been great. Then [to] “All the amazing people in Nashville that have helped me and in some way helped me piece this all together, I'm so grateful and grateful.”
