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Pat McAfee Named One of the Best NFL Players of the Past 25 Years

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Robin M Adams | Last updated May 18, 2025 10:33 AM ET

These days, every NFL fan knows Pat McAfee as a popular sports podcast host. Formerly a punter for the Indianapolis Colts, McAfee, along with former Green Bay Packers linebacker AJ Hawk, along with several other regular contributors, turned the “Pat McAfee Show” into one of the most lucrative and successful sports shows in the world.

So successful, in fact, that ESPN signed McAfee to five-year $85 million contract back in 2023. This is, by far, more money than he made playing for eight years in the NFL.

And while the media empire McAfee has created is to be admired for successful it has become, PFF does not want fans to forget that he was a really good punter, too.

PFF Names Pat McAfee as the Best Punter in the NFL Over the Last 25 Years

Aug 13, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee (1) against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Recently, PFF posted an article that listed the best players in the NFL over the past 25 years based on their grading system. Despite being retired from the league since 2016, McAfee is still considered by them to be the best punter in the NFL during that timeframe:

“McAfee is the highest-graded punter of the PFF era by a significant margin, with the next closest player being AJ Cole (89.3). That six-point gap is the largest of any position on this list.

“McAfee’s 4.54-second average hangtime on 611 qualifying punts is a top-five mark all time among qualifying punters, and he added 214 punts that landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. His 46.4 average punt yards per attempt was also a top-15 mark in the PFF era.”

McAfee’s career punt grade from PFF is an astonishing 95.3. As one can see in the excerpt above, no one has even come close to that mark.

Not many current NFL players made PFF’s list, though Derrick Henry, Tyreek Hill, and Lane Johnson were among the few that did.

Tom Brady beat out fellow legends Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers as the best quarterback in the NFL over the last 25 seasons.