Pat McAfee Taking Hiatus From SmackDown After Getting ESPN Job

Pat McAfee announced on his radio show that his role on SmackDown “will be on hold for a little bit” while he takes on a job as an analyst with ESPN’s College GameDay.

SmackDAHN will be on hold for a little bit while I do College GameDay.. I’m still VERY much in the WWE family & will still be doing things with WWE#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/bhSpOYg3wW

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 7, 2022

College GameDay is on Saturday mornings and takes place around the country at various college campuses, meaning McAfee would have had a very difficult travel schedule if he stayed on SmackDown on Friday nights.

McAfee said on his show that he originally wanted to do both, but WWE didn’t want him to travel overnight for the entire season, saying that it wasn’t good for his health or his family. He said that WWE told him that “whenever the time is right, we will have you back in the family.”

McAfee said that he’s still “very much part of the WWE family.”

Triple H tweeted:

.@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

Dave Meltzer said that he expects McAfee to return after the college football season is over.

The college football season started in late August and will run until early January.