It was early morning in October of 2010. Perhaps one of the coldest mornings in Pat McAfee’s life. Only that the former Indianapolis Colts punter had a heavy fuzzy night of partying before the trouble began. Buying 100 shots of tequila for every single person in the bar. But that’s not shocking. He was just 23 and a lover of the nightclub! And then came the stress. In his most clueless state, he was charged and arrested with public intoxication. But another narrative surfaced alongside this charge—Pat McAfee was allegedly swimming in the canal. But behind the allegation, what really happened?

Picture this. Pat McAfee was found intoxicated, wet, and shirtless near a canal in Broad Ripple around 4-5 in the morning. It would be easy to assume that he took a dip in the canal and the police officers fell for it too. On January 8, Yervakin Clips posted a YouTube short of the current ESPN analyst addressing his 2010 arrest. Dispelling the canal myth, he rectified, “I wasn’t charged with swimming in the canal. It was public intoxication. So there the story of me being in the canal is all hearsay and propaganda.” 

According to reports, a woman called 911 after finding the damp and drunk shirtless guy near her car. The police found Pat McAfee with a 0.15 blood alcohol content and took him to the Adult Processing Center. As an official said, “They took him in mostly for his own safety. He was cooperative but cold. It was 43 degrees or something like that.” Years later, he recounted a detailed report on his past arrest and his encounter with the officials. 

Pat McAfee admitted that the police officer asked him the same question five times, saying he would go to jail if there was no answer. “Why are you wet?” the question went. The fuzzy punter replied, “I’m not sure, sir.” This response led to a repetition of the question five times over, with McAfee not sure how to come up with a logical explanation.

His “blacked out” and “rain” excuse wasn’t what the police wanted to hear. And then the question about his shirt came up, to which McAfee had the same “I don’t have a clue” response. It’s still a mystery how he got wet, but here’s what the 37-year-old thinks—“I like to sweat a lot when I dance, so I could’ve been dancing.” But well, it was a lesson well learned. 

How Pat McAfee’s humiliating incident shaped him

Pat McAfee’s trouble with the law disrupted his relationship with his loved ones. His dad hung up on him when he called from detention. The following morning, reporters and cameras swarmed around him. He had to apologize to his mother via Facebook message because he broke his phone. Then the Colts added to his problem by suspending him for one game with a $10,000 fine. Recalling the situation, McAfee said, “At that moment, I just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.”

But he learned from his reckless actions. Two weeks after his arrest, he issued an apology, stating, “Obviously I made a dumb decision on a night when things got out of control. I will never put my team or my family through this kind of embarrassment again.” But even years later, he remained humbled by the incident.

Crediting this hitch as a wake-up call, he stated, “If it wasn’t for that evening, I certainly wouldn’t be in the NFL right now. I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with how I was living and still perform at a good level.” Pat McAfee went on to become a Super Bowl player and also made two Pro Bowls in his eight years in the NFL.

And hey, it also gave birth to his $500 million post-playing media career. After this incident, he got on The BOB & TOM Show to tell his story, and that’s where he found his first audience. The fans’ love for his vibrant personality landed him a one-year, $10,000, once-a-week deal. He upped his game the following year with his second rendition of The Pat McAfee Show under a local NBC Network, which was also a hit.

He shocked everyone by retiring from football and joining Barstool. In 2021, he snagged another 4-year $120 million deal with FanDuel and in 2023, he signed an $80 million deal to bring The Pat McAfee Show to ESPN. His story is proof that adversities occur to teach us valuable lessons. And there are two things we can do—either run from it or learn from it.