Pat McAfee is officially entering the world of music.
Whether you call yourself a fan of Pat McAfee or not, there’s no denying that the 38-year-old has really carved out a lane for himself. He flipped a punting career in the NFL, which netted him two Pro Bowl appearances and an All-Pro nod, into a sports media empire. And now, he’s one of the faces of ESPN, all while having the freedom to do whatever he wants on the sports network.
At this point in his career, he’s the biggest personality in all of sports, being an analyst on College GameDay, hosting The Pat McAfee Show and even making frequent appearances at WWE events, before announcing he had left the organization back in April after eight years.
Some of that aforementioned freedom led McAfee to become interested in making music. The former punter has previously called his music venture a “crazy addition” to his life, and said that his journey into music production has been as much fun as he’s ever had. That’s probably because he’s working with one of the most talented hitmakers in the entire music industry: Ernest.
Ernest and Pat McAfee were introduced to one another through Jelly Roll, and the “Flower Shops” singer told us here at Whiskey Riff that the two of them immediately hit it off:
“When I was on tour with Jelly Roll, he was like, ‘I’m gonna go do Pat McAfee this morning if you want to roll with me.’ I rolled with him. I was wearing my ‘Legalize Country Music’ jacket. Me and Pat bro-ed down. Jelly connected us. Pat had mentioned he wanted to do music and Jelly was like, ‘I gotta connect you with Ernest.’ Which is crazy. I guess I’m the guy for that.”
Pat and Ernest first worked together to release a song titled “Dookie,” which was released back in December, and the country artist says they busted out eight or nine songs that could be perfectly inserted into any sports video game:
“We’re having a blast. We went in and cut eight or nine songs with a band. Pat flew into town and cut vocals. We were coaching him through it. He’s got songs… some of them are ridiculous, but they’re true story type s*** that Pat McAfee is writing.
His story is insane. There’s a lot of that struggle coming up and beating the odds stuff. You could hear it as you’re creating a player on Madden. Any EA Sports game should have a Pat McAfee song on it. It’s locker room hype s***.”
If you’ve listened to what Pat has released already and like what you hear, the good news is that there’s more to come.
This morning, McAfee officially announced that his debut album, The Diary of a Polarizing Figure, will be released on Friday, August 14th.
Discussing the album in the caption, McAfee would explain that the inspiration came from a lifetime of being misunderstood — whether it was as a child, as a star punter in the NFL or as a media personality. Here, the Pennsylvania native would also dive into his lifelong love of music, noting that he’s been writing songs consistently for the past 20 years.
“For as long as I can remember my mere existence has made people hate my guts.. literally since elementary school. Teachers, administrators, other parents, you name it.. I didn’t understand it as a child but throughout my life I’ve come to realize that this is just how it’s gonna be.
I’ve been writing songs about it all for 20yrs. It’s time to let them aht.. There’s A LOT of headlines & narratives about me.. if I was to die, I’d like my kids to know exactly who and what their dad is.”
Finally, McAfee would thank Ernest and other “INSANELY talented” musicians in Nashville for helping the project come to be, expressing how proud he is of it.
“‘The Diary Of A Polarizing Figure. With incredible assistance from Ernest and many other INSANELY talented musicians in Nashville, my words have come to life. I’m very proud of what we’ve put together.”
At this point, it’s unclear which Nashville musicians appear on the record. With that being said, however, it’s pretty clear that Ernest had a huge influence on it over the past year.
Before you go, check out his first-ever single, “Dookie.”
