This week, Pate spoke to OutKick about how, not long ago, he was making just $27,000 a year and was eventually evicted from his home.Today, he runs one of the most successful independent brands in sports media and says he turns down sponsorship opportunities to avoid overexposing himself.During the discussion, I read aloud a text I received from a top sports media agent a few weeks ago, saying that the four people ESPN plans to build around for its future are Pat McAfee, Laura Rutledge, Peter Schrager and Josh Pate."Wow.
That's company that I don't think I belong in, because I've got pretty big reverence professionally for everyone you just mentioned.I don't know Peter as well.
Laura Rutledge is a living, breathing angel.Pat McAfee, to me, when you mention that name, you have to mention that name, and then you have to stop," Pate responded."I go back, I use this comparison sometimes.
I grew up on pro wrestling, ironically, speaking of Pat.I remember since that Attitude Era, late '90s, when I would have been a kid growing up, there's been this whole industry that has scaled and blown up around retrospectively looking back at that era.
One of the concepts that always stood out to me and slapped me in the face, because I can relate to it and apply it to my professional life, is when people talk about the impact Steve Austin had on the industry of pro wrestling," he continued.Josh Pate speaks onstage during his College Football Show at Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center on July 17, 2026, in New York City.(Getty Images for Fanatics)"There have been big stars before.
There have been guys who made a lot of money.But the transcendent ones, the ones that you look back on a quarter-century later, are the ones who not only created wealth and success for themselves, but created wealth and success for hundreds and thousands of other people merely because they existed.
That's Pat McAfee in our space."EXCLUSIVE: COLIN COWHERD EXPLAINS WHY HE STUCK TO SPORTS AS ESP...