Peter Berg was already working on The Mosquito Bowl when Pat McAfee reached out to him. The former NFL punter had heard that the Friday Night Lights director was adapting the book about college football players who joined the U.S. military during World War II and played a football game before the Battle of Okinawa.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Pat McAfee had read the book himself and wanted to be involved in the film. He also told Berg that he had a friend who worked as a Marine Corps drill instructor, offering another connection to the story. As a result, the former NFLer grabbed a role in the film, and his big-screen debut is in theaters. However, plenty of fans are already unimpressed.
Netflix Sports posted a clip on X showing the ESPN host as a drill instructor in “The Mosquito Bowl,” and the replies piled up fast.
Peter Berg’s film opened in U.S. theaters on October 30 and reaches Netflix on November 25. It follows four college football stars who join the Marine Corps after Pearl Harbor, and it is based on Buzz Bissinger’s 2022 book. The title comes from a real game between two Marine regiments before the invasion of Okinawa.
McAfee did not just show up and read lines. He asked Berg to let him take part, and Berg said he shut down his show for three weeks and flew to Australia for the shoot. McAfee also hosted “The Pat McAfee Show” from Parris Island on Veterans Day 2025.
McAfee’s Hollywood ambitions have a powerful backer in WME chairman Ari Emanuel, who represents the ESPN star. That connection has already landed him a four-episode role in Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King on Paramount+.
Berg said McAfee “happened to be perfect for the role of a drill instructor.” He was also blunt about why the effort mattered to him.
“Didn’t have to do it. Certainly didn’t need the money, but he wanted to be a part of that piece of history.”
McAfee described the role as an honor when Netflix first showed his look in September.
“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 Marines culture.”
Fans were not sold even then. One replied that he has to be an “industry plant,” and another asked how many more of him fans would be handed. The film itself had a 45% Rotten Tomatoes score, so the reaction to the new clip was not a surprise.
The reactions ranged from dismissive memes to calls for McAfee to step back from the spotlight, though no coordinated campaign emerged.
A fan posted a meme GIF of a man saying “I’m out!” with “1.3 seconds” written on it. The joke is that he wanted no part of it.
Similar criticism appeared across social media platforms as the clip circulated.
One fan posted another GIF with a chef’s kiss and wrote, “The amount of money this is going to lose.”
Another commentator posted a blunt GIF that read “Yeah, that’s gonna be a no from me, dawg.”
Some viewers were clearly tired of McAfee, with one fan calling for him to disappear from the spotlight.
“I’m begging, for the love of all things holy, make Pat McAfee go away.”
The Netflix streaming release is still ahead, so this debate is far from over. Will McAfee’s acting debut change any minds there, or just give fans more to say?