Thankfully for Houston Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, the result of their Wild Card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was well beyond doubt when he lined up this fourth quarter extra point attempt.
The Texans had just intercepted Aaron Rodgers for a pick six to put the cherry on top of a dominant 30-6 victory on the road in Pittsburgh where their stifling defense was the story of the night.
Fairbairn had made all three of his extra points and a 51 yard field goal before lining up his final kick of the evening. But something went horribly wrong as the kick was a line drive that never even made it above the crossbar. The kick certainly bemused Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast booth.
And harkening back to his HBO late night days, Buck had the perfect one-liner to describe the kick.
“Normally, McAfee ends up handing out about $200,000 after one of these kicks.” – Joe Buck pic.twitter.com/9pJtCG2sI7
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 13, 2026
“He’s wondering what the heck happened as well, look at the look on his face. He’s like, what was that,” Aikman said.
“Normally, McAfee ends up handing out about $200,000 after one of these kicks,” Buck then quipped.
Of course, that would be a nod to Pat McAfee’s kicking contest on College GameDay every week where he challenges college students to make a kick for hundreds of thousands of dollars. While some of the kicks look like Fairbairn’s effort on this failed extra point, McAfee gave out millions of dollars of his own money because there were so many successful makes this season. As he would probably remind Joe Buck, $200,000 is well on the low end of what he hands out every week.
The field goal kicking contest is one of the best things about College GameDay, make or miss. However, its future is in doubt after Pat McAfee hinted that it could be coming to an end as the college football season came to a close.
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