Pat McAfee had X doing a full double take Friday after a clip from his live ESPN show started flying around online.
The former WWE announcer was seen handling what looked like a lit smoking item on Thursday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show, and it didn’t take long for people to start asking whether he seriously just smoked on national television.
The clip doesn’t actually show McAfee taking a hit, and there’s no confirmation the item was marijuana. What viewers did see was smoke, an ashtray and McAfee casually handling whatever was burning like this was just another day at the office.
McAfee didn’t exactly rush to calm everybody down once the clip started spreading either. He jumped on X, joked about sage and immediately went right back to talking football, which only made the whole thing even funnier.
The reaction exploded from there. Some viewers couldn’t believe McAfee could seemingly get away with something like that during a live ESPN broadcast, while others basically shrugged and said this is exactly the kind of chaos ESPN signed up for when it brought him into the fold.
The marijuana speculation didn’t exactly come out of nowhere either. McAfee has openly discussed weed in the past and has never tried to present himself like some squeaky-clean network personality. He was also seen using a vape pen during his 2025 NFL Draft coverage before later saying it was CBD and vitamins. None of that proves what was burning on his desk Thursday, but it was more than enough for social media to start connecting dots.
The timing is also pretty wild. Ringside News previously covered how McAfee was linked to a massive ESPN extension potentially worth between $60 million and $65 million per year, while the former WWE announcer has also made it clear that a regular WWE return isn’t exactly at the top of his current plans.
So now McAfee is trending again, this time because of one little cloud of smoke and a whole lot of internet detective work. ESPN hasn’t turned the moment into some giant public crisis, McAfee doesn’t seem bothered, and everyone else is still trying to figure out what the hell was sitting in that ashtray.
What do you think Pat McAfee was smoking during the live ESPN broadcast, and should ESPN even care? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
