It’s one thing for an NFL player to retire early to join Barstool Sports like Pat McAfee did. It’s another to end your NFL career before it even began to do the same thing.
Only that’s exactly what it appears Mike Katic is doing.
Earlier this week, Dan “Big Cat” Katz revealed on The Yak that Barstool Sports had hired Katic, who just finished his sixth year as an offensive lineman at Indiana. Appearing on the stream, Katic confirmed the news while expressing excitement for his post-playing career in media.
“I’m pumped. This is what I think I was born to do,” Katic said. “Football’s great, but I think this is my thing. So I’m super excited to move in here.”
The Pittsburgh, Pa., native will be working out of Barstool Sports’ Chicago office, which makes sense considering his Midwest ties. While his first official day with the company isn’t until March 1, he’s already made multiple appearances on Barstool Sports programming this week and has also been featured on the company’s social media feeds, including in a clip in which he practiced drills with another relatively new Barstool hire — Jon Gruden.
“He was projected to be an NFL draft pick,” Portnoy said of Katic while discussing the hire on The Unnamed Show. “And he chose to come with us.”
Portnoy said that Barstool didn’t recruit Katic away from the NFL, but that someone in the Indiana athletic department reached out to the company expressing interest on the Hoosiers captain’s behalf. From there, the Barstool Sports founder looked up media interviews that Katic had taken part in during his college career and decided that he was a fit.
“To me, he could be a really good character,” Portnoy said. “He’s a good guy, wants to be in media, choosing this.”
While it can be difficult to project the draft stock of interior offensive linemen, all indications are that Katic was a legitimate candidate to be picked in this year’s draft. The 33rd Team even ranked him as its No. 2 gap scheme center as recently as November.
At a minimum, Katic was a safe bet to be on an NFL roster this summer, whether as a mid-to-late-round pick or even as an undrafted free agent. Instead, he’ll be churning out content from Barstool Sports’ Chicago office, thanks to what already marks one of the most surprising moves of the draft season.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.