Pat McAfee has worn a lot of hats. He was a punter, wrestler, host, and now an actor. Netflix’s reveal of his casting as a Marine drill instructor in “The Mosquito Bowl” was always going to get people talking. J. Russell’s take just wasn’t the one anyone expected. A former Army Scout who still remembers watching McAfee punt for the Colts, Russell met the news with disbelief, followed by a laugh he couldn’t hold back.

“As a former Army Scout plus knowing @PatMcAfeeShow as “my” former punter; shit, makes me laugh. (Colts Fan since @jimharbaugh was my QB; met the man as a young pup) I can not wait to see this hot mess! Love you @BussinWTB. I live here in Omaha, SET what!” J. Russell posted on X.

Netflix confirmed he’s stepping in front of the camera for the first time, playing a Marine drill instructor in The Mosquito Bowl.

The movie itself has real weight behind it. It’s adapted from Buzz Bissinger’s New York Times bestseller of the same name, and it tells the true story of four college football stars who enlisted after Pearl Harbor. They trained for the brutal Okinawa invasion, and somewhere in between, they played a football game that’s stuck around in military lore ever since, remembered today as the actual Mosquito Bowl.

The film hits theaters October 30 before landing on Netflix afterward.

As for how McAfee feels about playing a DI, he didn’t hold back. He posted on X that it was an honor to represent what he called “the toughest of the tough.”

“It was a mind-blowing honor to be asked to represent the toughest of the tough and the greatest of the great. The true pinnacle of a badass. What I learned was that a DI in the Marine Corps is the actual keeper of the Marine Corps’ culture. They mold boys and girls into war-ready men and women. I did not take any of it lightly. It was an honor of a lifetime to learn about the Corps, and I tried my best to do these superhumans justice. RAH. Kill. Slay. #BreakChains 🫡” McAfee posted on X.

McAfee’s career has been one long game of “guess what he’s doing next.” He was a seventh-round pick in 2009, punted for the Colts through 2016, then built one of the biggest platforms in sports media.

The Pat McAfee Show turned him into one of the most famous hosts, and that eventually turned into an eight-figure deal with ESPN, one that’s reportedly about to balloon into something worth 60 million dollars a year.

And that’s before you even get to everything else happening around him. He’s signed with Ari Emanuel now, the same guy who wants to turn him into, in his own words, “the next Sylvester Stallone.”

Emanuel’s already lined up more acting work too; McAfee let it slip on his show back in February that he’s got a role coming in Paramount+’s “Tulsa King.”

On top of that, McAfee dropped his first album this past August, a country rock project called “The Diary of a Polarizing Figure,” because apparently punter, broadcaster, and actor wasn’t a full enough plate for him.

So yeah, the Marine drill instructor role is new territory, but at this point, betting against Pat McAfee trying something completely different feels like a losing bet.