WWE NXT Analyst Pat McAfee Joins XFL Commentator Team
WWE NXT analyst Pat McAfee has been announced as one of the members of the XFL commentator teams when the season re-debuts in February.
The former kicker for the Indianapolis Colts will serve as a field analyst along with play-by-play voice Tom Hart and analyst Joey Galloway for the weekly Sunday games on ESPN and ABC, beginning with the St. Louis BattleHawks vs. Dallas Renegades on February 9th at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Play-by-play voice Steve Levy, analyst Greg McElroy, field analyst Tom Luginbill and reporter Dianna Russini will call the Seattle Dragons vs. DC Defenders XFL kickoff game on February 8th at 2 p.m. ET, the West Final on April 19th, the XFL Championship on April 26 and weekly Saturday games on ABC in 2020.
McAfee spoke with Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast earlier this year and had expressed interest in being a part of the XFL. He revealed that he received an offer from the now-defunct AAF, but turned them down because it would be in competition with the XFL.
"The AAF offered me a commentating spot for their league and it was literally the day after I signed my deal with the WWE... I said no because I knew that the XFL would be launching in a year from now. So I didn't want to help launch a new league that would be in competition with the XFL," said McAfee.
While the original XFL only one season, McAfee said that he is confident that this version will succeed.
"I think the XFL has a good chance," stated McAfee. "With the way sports gambling is coming to be and the people they have running that league, I think Vince does not want to fail again. I'll be a fan of the XFL and if they want me to do something, then I'd love to? not to play. I'm not gonna play. I'm done with that but everything else is fair game.
"...With the XFL, I think the engagement with the fans is something that could really help out. There's gonna be an active fan base but there are some things you could do to be a little more engaged with the fans, but also self-awareness is a big deal."
McAfee made his first WWE SmackDown appearance this past Friday, joining a guest commentary team to fill in for Michael Cole and Corey Graves, who were not able to make the show due to flight issues from last Thursday's Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.