Zak Keefer

zak.keefer@indystar.com

HOUSTON – He looked happy, relieved, rejuvenated. Here it was: The next chapter of Pat McAfee’s life was 90 seconds old. He was wearing a shirt that read “SATURDAYS ARE FOR THE BOYS,” talking to three guys in lawn chairs and sitting on a cooler on the set of a sports comedy show five miles outside of Houston.

This was the easy part. The hard part came two days earlier, when he had to tell Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay he was walking away from the final two years of his $14.5 million contract and retiring at the age of 29.

The Colts’ ever-popular punter decided weeks ago he was done with professional football, that he was going to chase a new challenge – he’s going to run the Indianapolis office of Barstool Sports, the satirical sports website McAfee calls “the most powerful force in entertainment and media.”

So, hours before Irsay officially introduced Chris Ballard as the team’s new general manager, he met with McAfee alone and heard his decision. Coach Chuck Pagano had known for some time.

At first, Irsay was stunned. McAfee’s not yet 30 and coming off the best season of his eight-year career. The Colts planned on him being here for a long, long time.

“That conversation was the real weight on my shoulders, because I didn’t want to let him down,” McAfee told IndyStar late Wednesday night outside Kirby Ice House in Houston, the site of Barstool Sports’ live show. “I didn’t want him to be mad at me.”

At first, Irsay tried to persuade McAfee to return.

“I don’t want to say confused, but at first, he was a little confused,” McAfee said. “But the last hour and a half he was happy for me, supporting me. Anything I need from him, he’s right down the street. He’s happy. He’s excited. He has a creative mind, too. So he understands.”

McAfee seemed content with the weight of his decision. He’s walking away from the most competitive job market in the world, a job he had incredible security in. He’s taking a massive gamble. He knows this.

All of which begs an obvious question: Does he ever see himself returning to the NFL?

“No, I don’t think so, unless I fall completely flat on my face with this, which is possible,” McAfee said. “Failure is completely possible. I know that the intelligence of this decision will be based upon my financial success the rest of my life. I understand that. But for me, I really just want to focus on building my team in Indianapolis, putting out content people appreciate and most importantly, I want to put a spotlight on Indianapolis.”

As for that content, McAfee says, “Barstool Sports has given me an incredible business opportunity. The contract is set up so I can basically run my own thing.”

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He mulled the decision for months, and as far back as November began to wonder if this would be his final year playing football. Playing no small role was the stress the game had put on his knees. He recently went under the knife for his third surgery in four years.

McAfee had originally told himself he wanted to play long enough to help good friend and teammate Adam Vinatieri break the NFL’s all-time field goal record. Vinatieri, sitting on 530 makes in his gilded 21-year career, needs 36 to break Morten Andersen’s record.

Eventually McAfee decided he couldn’t do it.

There was also something pulling at McAfee, he admitted, a creative outlet he long craved that football couldn’t give him.

“I just started asking myself while I was driving to work if there was more to life than kicking footballs every day,” he said.

“To be great in the NFL, which I wanted to be for my teammates and our organization and the fans, you have to fully focus on that (expletive). And I send out tweets and I do a couple comedy shows in the offseason, but during the season I don’t leave my house. I game-ready my knees every single night. You’re talking about just full focus that takes up my entire life. That’s what every NFL player does. That’s the stuff you don’t see and for me I kind’ve just want to shift my focus from kicking a ball to making the world a happier place.”

He was the life of this party Wednesday night, the center of attention. After the show ended, McAfee posed for photos with his new teammates –Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy, as well as popular bloggers Kevin Clancy and Dan Katz – and for selfies with screaming fans. He joked on set, saying, “My life has been littered with terrible decisions, and this is at the top of the list.”

Yet he did not look like a man buried in regret.

“I’m finally excited that it happened,” he said.

Former teammate Colt Anderson was on hand in support, and had been asking McAfee for days if the move was for real. Like most out there, he simply couldn’t believe it.

McAfee oozed confidence Wednesday night as news spread of his stunning retirement.

He seemed content more than anything else, now that the secret he’d been holding in for months was finally off his chest.

“I think a lot of people still think it’s fake,” he said. “Well, it’s definitely not.”

Call Star reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134 and follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.

>See Pat McAfee speak live April 27 at the Indiana Sports Awards, hosted by IndyStar. Buy tickets here.