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How did Pat McAfee start the transition from relatively unknown Colts punter to a media mogul who now is part of ESPNs College GameDay crew, hosts a wildly popular show on YouTube and both performed and worked as a commentator for World Wrestling Entertainment?

With a drunken, late-night swim in the not-so-pristine waters of the Broad Ripple Canal in Indianapolis almost exactly 12 years ago.

It had been a really long night in an endless stretch of really long nights for the then-23-year-old. While celebrating life at Old Pros Table, he bought a hundred shots of tequila for the patrons in the bar.

At some point, McAfee thought it would be a tremendous idea to walk outside and jump into the nearby canal. After doing the backstroke, or maybe it was the breaststroke, McAfee emerged. A passing motorist later saw the wet, shirtless McAfee strolling about and called the police.

Soon, his blotchy face and wild hair were splattered all over the TV, both locally and nationally. As mugshots go, it was a classic. But Tim McAfee, Pats father, was not at all amused. When Pat called him from jail, Tim acknowledged he had seen the news and hung up on his son.

Pat was mortified. The Colts, led by general manager Bill Polian, were incensed, and while some of us dismissed it as a silly stunt by a kid whose night spiraled out of control, his reputation took something of a beating in his adopted hometown.

Shortly thereafter, he started getting calls from Bob Kevoian, the now-retired host of the Bob & Tom Show, a fabulously successful national morning radio show that emanated from Indianapolis.

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How Pat McAfee went from Colts punter to media superstardom: He has the gift - The Athletic