Pat McAfee Says He Nearly Quit WWE Before WrestleMania 35 Because of His Shorts

Former NFL punter and WWE on-air personality Pat McAfee turned heads during the WrestleMania 35 [...]

By Connor Casey

Former NFL punter and WWE on-air personality Pat McAfee turned heads during the WrestleMania 35 Kickoff show on Sunday when he appeared at MetLife Stadium wearing a pair of tuxedo shorts to go with his jacket. And while fans at home seemed to get a kick out of it, McAfee revealed on Monday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show that his outfit initially enraged WWE workers backstage, including Michael Cole. McAfee said the outburst Cole made against him was so embarrassing that he nearly quit his job right then and there. McAfee said he spent the entire day at rehearsal in his outfit, but didn't here a word about what he was wearing until an hour before the show started.

"We do the rehearsal, I come back in and Michael Cole is on the phone, panicking, with the entire McMahon family and celebrities in gorilla," McAfee said. "I just start getting yelled at by Michael Cole for wearing shorts. He said, 'I told you no shorts.' I said, 'You told me no jorts.' He said, 'You look unprofessional, you look sloppy.' He was yelling at me in front of all these people. I said, 'They're tuxedo shorts, man.' This wasn't like a rib or a gimmick. There was actual panic. I'd been wearing these for 10 hours and we're 45 minutes before the show. I feel like I could have been told earlier and not been yelled at in front of everyone."

McAfee then stormed out and told a backstage worker (he referred to him as a "digital guy") that he was leaving.

"I walked out of gorilla, walked to where "Watch Along" was happening, grabbed my bag and told the digital guy, 'You tell Michael Cole to go f— himself.' I'm not getting punked and yelled at like a child," he continued. "You guys think I'm some schlub. This is a second job to me. I'm excited and happy to be here, but I'm not gonna be yelled at like a child. The digital guy was like, 'is there any way we can not have you leave right now?' I said, 'I'll go talk to Vince McMahon.'"

It turned out McMahon was perfectly fine with McAfee's outfit, and that the production team was actually in trouble for where they had him and Charly Caruso.

"The only issue was Vince was wondering where I was gonna be and I was on the stage," McAfee said. "[Vince said] 'Why is he on the stage, we're not showing the stage.' So, they actually got in trouble. If you watch the pre-show, our back is to the crowd. It wasn't supposed to be that way, it was supposed to be our back to the tron. Michael Cole gives me one of the realest apologies I've ever gotten in my entire life. He tells me, 'it's been a long week, we've got a lot going on, and I thought this was gonna ruin it for you.' He wants me to do a lot for WWE and he thought I was gonna ruin it if Vince saw me in shorts. I took the apology."

McAfee's on-camera appearance went off without a hitch.

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