Backlash Mounts Against Pat McAfee After Netflix Shares Clip of ESPN Star in Mosquito Bowl

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. 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.