Pat McAfee Loses $550,000 of His Own Money in First Two Weeks of College Football

Week 2 of the college football season is here, and that means fans get to enjoy Pat McAfee’s signature kicking contest on ESPN’s College GameDay. Each week, students step up to test their legs and try their luck for a grand, cash prize.

So far … McAfee has been throwing stacks around like confetti, with back-to-back successful attempts from the contestants, and a jaw-dropping giveaway that’s already topped half a million dollars.

This week, McAfee and his crew (including Rece Davis, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, and Desmond Howard) headed to Norman, Oklahoma, for the SEC-Big Ten matchup between two ranked teams: the Michigan Wolverines and the Oklahoma Sooners. Fans, as usual, gathered outside ahead of the on-field action to catch the exciting kicking contest.

This week’s lucky kicker, Jack Daugard from the Sooners’ lacrosse team, a lefty, had to drill a 30-yard shot… for a whopping $200,000 cash prize, plus another $100,000 going to Michigan’s charity, Light Beneath the Well.

And boy, did Daugard drill it. The pigskin sailed just a few yards above the uprights, but it went in, all right … costing McAfee, a former kicker himself for the Indianapolis Colts, a total of $300k. Even at the NFL level, that’s not easy money to make.

Last week, Logan Pallo, an OSU Sophomore, had $250,000 on the line for a 33-yard attempt. The kicking contest took place ahead of the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Texas Longhorns matchup, where the defending champs opened the season with a win at home.

Pallo nailed it on his first try, too. And, with all of this, McAfee has already handed out a total of $550,000 for these contests, which he admitted this week is coming straight out of his own pocket.

“Yeah, Rece [Davis], I appreciate you saying that it’s my money. My wife, my daughter, my mom are happy to hear that reiterated. I think it’s very clear that no business would sign up to give away $250,000 because a kid can Ohio can kick a 30-yard field goal,” said the former kicker playfully.

So far, McAfee has handed out $1.1 million to students for made kicks, and another $1.25 million to charity. That’s a ton of cash.

This week’s cause, Light Beneath the Well, was started by Michigan football player Ernest Hausmann and aims to bring clean drinking water to underserved communities.