JUST TRY
ESPN’s College GameDay has become one of the most popular pre-game sports shows in America, traveling to different college campuses to preview the marquee game of each fall football weekend. Last Saturday the show landed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as the University of Alabama Crimson Tide prepared to host the Vanderbilt Commodores. As has typically been the case since joining the show back in 2022, analyst Pat McAfee managed to steal the show.
McAfee has become a household name and a media mogul since unexpectedly retiring as a punter from the Indianapolis Colts in 2017. In addition to his role on College GameDay, he hosts his own mid-day talk show on ESPN, he’s a regular guest on WWE wrestling, and he’s a constant presence at events in and around his home (and mine) in Indy. This guy is literally everywhere. And while you’d think a big personality like his might at some point wear out his welcome, he somehow manages to remain increasingly likeable.
Take Saturday in Tuscaloosa, for example. Since 2023, one staple of College GameDay has been Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest. Each week, the first 300 fans who arrive for the show are entered into a raffle. One winner is selected to attempt a 33-yard field goal. A successful kick secures a case prize for the winner and a donation to charity, both of which McAfee covers from his own pocket. (Who does that?) The best part is that Pat genuinely wants his contestants to win. Miss the kick? Hey, let’s retry for even more money! Don’t know how to kick? Let’s find someone who does to do it for you! Since the contest started, McAfee’s given over $1.4 million dollars in prizes, and over $1.25 million to charity. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone enjoy giving away their own money more.
Saturday, Alabama senior chemical engineering major Gabby Mathis was the lucky contestant. In the pre-kick interview, she admitted that she’d never kicked anything - much less a football - in her entire life. Regardless, her enthusiasm was infectious. Did she want someone else to try? No! She’d camped out all night, had her name drawn, and wanted to give it a shot. She was fully committed to giving her best effort. The only thing more obvious than her enjoyment was the inevitable failure that was to come.
Gabby put everything she had into that kick, which never left the ground and traveled probably all of about 15 feet. It had to have been the worst attempt in the kicking contest’s history. But in that moment, Pat McAfee did what he always does. He wanted Gabby to win. He was committed to helping her win. After some quick contemplation, he adapted the rules and found Gabby some help. If College GameDay co-host and former college quarterback Kirk Herbstreit could throw the ball through the field goal uprights, McAfee declared, he would give Gabby $300,000. Herbstreit of course delivered, sent the crowd into a frenzy, and brought Gabby to tears.
Why, you may be wondering, am I choosing to share this story with you here this week? What’s the takeaway for you? Here’s one. We need more Gabbys in the world. We need people who are willing - maybe even against all odds or at the risk of looking foolish - to just try. We live in a world where it’s become increasingly uncool to try, and you know what? That stinks. Gabby probably knew she wasn’t gonna make that field goal. Pat certainly knew it. So did I. But she tried anyways, and in the end, there was a reward for her effort and her courage. There is of course no guarantee for any of us that our effort and enthusiasm will be rewarded like Gabby's was. But I do think success in this world honors those people who are willing -maybe even against all odds or at the risk of looking foolish - to just try.
Here’s the other takeaway. We need more Gabbys in the world, but we also need more Pats. We need to make trying cool again. We need to celebrate people who put their enthusiasm and courage on display, and reward them whenever we can. Gabby won, not just because she had the willingness to try, but because Pat saw that willingness and appreciated it. There’s a lesson we can learn from each of them, and a lesson we can use to help find success - for ourselves and for others - in whatever we’re doing here today.
