We all experience defining moments that shape our lives, instances where a single decision, if made differently, could have set our lives on an entirely new trajectory.
On a recent episode of the "All The Smoke" podcast, sports analyst Pat McAfee talked about how one poker night took his football career, and ultimately his life story, in a completely different direction.
He needed money, he needed it fast, and there was only one way he knew how to get it.
Falling in Love Watching WSOP
McAfee says his love for the game started while watching the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN.
“It was huge,” he said. He talked about watching Chris Moneymaker, describing him as a “basic blue-collar dude from middle America who became a millionaire overnight.”
After watching that, he said, several people he knew started playing poker, and he became pretty good at it. He and his friends thought they would become the next WSOP champions. However, he added that the money they made helped pay for extras at lunch, if nothing else.
McAfee Has Scholarship Offer From Kent State… But
McAfee went on to explain that after accepting a scholarship offer to kick field goals at Kent State University, he was presented with a unique opportunity.
About a month before signing day, he was invited to a kicking showcase in Florida. Mike McCabe, from One on One Kicking, called Pat and asked him if he would like to attend.
The showcase was for kickers who already had scholarships. McAfee said he was "pumped." But time was tight and there was a cost because the showcase was in Miami.
Kicking Showcases Are Not Free
McCabe told McAfee attending the kicking showcase would cost him $1,500. Although Pat was excited about the opportunity, after hearing how much it cost, his dad wasn’t on board.
"My dad, a truck driver turned warehouse worker, and mom, a secretary, thought $1,500 in a 4-day period was not feasible," he said.
His dad reminded him that he already had a scholarship to kick for the Golden Flashes at Kent State. "So let me get this straight," McAfee said his dad reiterated. "I need to come up with $1,500 for you to go to Miami to potentially get a scholarship when you already have a scholarship."
Secret Poker Game Could Be The Answer
It was at that moment that McAfee decided to take things into his own hands. He racked his brain, trying to figure out a way to raise the money, and fast. Poker was the answer.
"There was a big game happening that I heard about from one of my friend's dads," he explained. "It was in the basement of an Italian restaurant in the town we grew up in."
The game was being held on a Thursday night with much bigger blinds than the 25-cent and 50-cent blinds he and his friends were used to.
McAfee described himself as blindly optimistic and narcissistic thinking that he could go there and win the money he needed, but it didn’t stop him from going.
Poker Pat Takes Over To Raise Money
Pat borrowed $100 from a friend and decided to enter the game.
"I went in there and turned it into $1,400," he said. "Jacks full of nines was the full house that I won the pot on."
McAfee said he had to be careful with the money because he was up as much as $1,800 very early in the tournament, but did not want to be disrespectful and leave. So, he nursed his winnings throughout the night and left with the $1,400.
"I got home at like 3:30, 4 AM, as my dad was waking up," he said.
Of course, his dad wanted to know where Pat was and what he was doing, so McAfee showed him the money, told him how he got it, and asked if he could put up the remaining $100 that he needed to attend the Florida kicking showcase.
The Rest, As They Say, Is History
His dad agreed to give him the money he needed, and it paid off big time.
"Went down to the camp," McAfee said. "Ended up winning the camp, got a scholarship to West Virginia the next morning."
Although McAfee looks back on the decision to play in the poker game fondly, he admits it probably wasn’t the smartest decision. "I was, by far, the youngest person there. But if that doesn’t happen, do I go to West Virginia? Do I go to the NFL? Probably not, probably not, which means I am the luckiest F— of all time."
McAfee went on to have a very good career at West Virginia and played professionally for the Indianapolis Colts.
If you'd like to hear Pat tell the story himself, you can watch McAfee tell the story in a post on the "All The Smoke" X feed.
And if you want to try to make some poker memories of your own, you can check out our list of the best online poker sites around.
