Pat McAfee on Pro Football Hall of Fame: 'Don't vote me in'
As mentioned by the NFL's website, it was announced Tuesday that former Indianapolis Colts punter-turned-successful podcast/show host Pat McAfee is among the 129 modern-era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2023.
McAfee featured for the Colts from the time they selected him in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft through the 2016 season and earned one First-Team All-Pro and a pair of Pro Bowl nods during his career. As Mike Asti noted for the WV Sports Now website, the 35-year-old former punter addressed the Hall of Fame news during the "Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday.
"Don’t vote me in, but this is cool to even be acknowledged," McAfee explained during a segment. McAfee added that he "did not play long enough" to get voted into the Hall of Fame.
(Video contains not-safe-for-work language.)
The list of modern-era nominees will be shortened down to 25 in November, and 15 finalists will then be announced in early January. Next year's Hall of Fame class will be revealed during the "NFL Honors" award show that takes place before Super Bowl LVII in February.
McAfee, meanwhile, initially joined Barstool Sports as a content creator after he retired from the NFL and may be more famous now for his popular "Pat McAfee Show" than he was during his playing days. He's also served as an in-ring performer and announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment, and he joined ESPN's "College GameDay" as a full-time analyst earlier this month.
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