Former Indianapolis Colts kicker Pat McAfee played college football for West Virginia from 2005 to 2008. During his recent appearance on All the Smoke podcast, McAfee revealed an insane story about receiving a scholarship offer from West Virginia in the first place.
He explained how a televised poker boom, a lack of financial resources, and a risky gamble literally paved the way for his Division I football career.
McAfee, who was already holding a scholarship offer from Kent State University as a kicker, shared that he received a phone call from Mike McCabe, who was holding a kicking camp in Miami, Florida. The former kicker was pretty excited at the time.
“I got a call about a month before signing day that there was a kicking camp happening down in Miami, Florida, by a guy named Mike McCabe—101 Kicking,” McAfee said. “I was in physics class when the call happened. I still remember the guy’s number to this day because I was so pumped to receive the call. He told me he was putting on a kicking contest in Florida for all guys who had scholarships. At that point, I was already offered a scholarship to Kent State to be a field goal kicker, but he wanted guys to come compete against his guys that he coached down in Florida.
“It was going to be a college showcase. It was happening the next weekend or something like that. I was pumped to get invited; I felt like it was a big deal. He sends over the information, and it was going to end up costing like $1,500.”
McAfee first asked his dad for the money. However, he was shut down by his father since his father was not willing to spend that much for a trip, knowing McAfee already had an offer from Kent State.
“My dad—a truck driver who later worked in a warehouse—and my mom, a secretary… $1,500 in a four-day period just wasn’t a feasible thing,” McAfee said. “My dad, I think, literally told me to go f*ck myself. I already had a scholarship to Kent State at the time, too. So, let me get this straight: I need to come up with $1,500 for you to go to Miami to kick, to potentially get a scholarship when you already have a fucking scholarship to Kent State? That’s not gonna happen.”
So, McAfee had to arrange the money by himself. He was inspired by watching Chris Moneymaker at the World Series of Poker and added that he thought this way he can gather the money to go to Miami.
McAfee arranged for the buy-in from one of his friends by borrowing $100. He capitalized on his poker skills and cashed out with $1,400, leaving him $100 bill short for the trip.
“But I got $100 from one of my friends who had money,” McAfee added. “I went in there and I turned it into $1,400. I left at like 3:30 or 4 a.m., and I met my dad as he was waking up. He was like, ‘Where the f*ck have you been?’ And I was like… I gave him the money and told him I needed $100.”
𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄’𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐒: 𝐃𝐀𝐘 5
Pat McAfee’s road to a D1 scholarship at West Virginia started with a game of poker.
As Pat likes to say, he’s been living “the dumbest life of all-time.” pic.twitter.com/i4VvtV5jty
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) July 26, 2025
The rest is history. Pat McAfee went down at that camp, won the kicking contest and ultimately signed with West Virginia.
How did Pat McAfee perform in college?
At West Virginia (2005-08), Pat McAfee played as both the team’s placekicker and punter from his freshman year. In his first year, he went 11-for-18 on field goals (61.1 %) and made 48 of 49 extra points.
In his sophomore season, McAfee was perfect on extra points (62/62) and made 17 of 22 field goals. Then in his junior year, he converted 64 of 65 extra points and went 13 of 19 on field goals, including multiple 40+ yarders and key kicks in the Fiesta Bowl vs. Oklahoma. He scored 103 points that season.
McAfee had a 100% extra point conversion rate (36/36) and made 17 of 20 field goals (85%) in his senior and final college season. He set WVU all-time records in scoring (384 points career) and PATs (212 extra points).
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