10 years ago, Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee ended up in jail and almost lost his job after jumping into a river. Saturday, McAfee once again jumped into a river, but this time he did it for his job.
McAfee has been making a name for himself in the sports media landscape in the years since retiring from the NFL. Following a stint with Barstool Sports, he now hosts a radio show on DAZN, did some commentary for Fox for NFL games, also did some work for WWE, is set to announce XFL broadcasts next year, and has been spending this season as a color commentator on ESPN. Oh and he’s also been doing spot duty on College GameDay, which is what he was doing on Saturday in Waco, Texas before the Baylor – Oklahoma game.
McAfee joined David Pollack atop a boat in the Brazos River at Baylor’s campus for the “You Had One Job” segment. While the segment was mostly the usual stuff, recapping the weird and awkward moments from college football in the week that was, the fact that McAfee was holding a selfie stick alluded to the possibility that something extra was coming.
Sure enough, as the segment ended, McAfee started explaining that, “a lot of people would say this is the last time I’m going to be on GameDay. The last time I did allegedly what I’m about to do, I ended up in a jail cell. Let’s go!”
And with that, he stepped forward, took a few deep breaths, and jumped into the river, belly-flopping as he hit the water.
https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1195729610383736832
https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay/status/1195731194572206086
Why did McAfee belly flop in the Brazos? There doesn’t seem to be a good answer to that question. Perhaps it’s not a question worth asking. But in retrospect, ESPN’s lawyers probably would have preferred more of a cannonball. Rece Davis explained why shortly afterward.
“Hey, I hope we scoped that out and let Pat know that the Brazos is not really that deep right there,” he said. “Belly flop — we could have had an incident!”
Hopefully, McAfee got his shots afterward. The Brazos is considered one of the most polluted rivers in Texas. Go Baylor!
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.