Student kicks $1.2 million field goal, donates half to charity

The crowd quieted to a whisper as Connor Kacena-Merrell lined up his kick. Stepping forward, he kicked the football, sending it arcing gracefully through the yellow goal posts. Longhorn fans erupted into cheers and applause.

On Sept. 12, Kacena-Merrell, an electrical and computer engineering and business freshman, successfully completed the ESPN College GameDay “Kicking is Easy” challenge after he kicked a 33-yard field goal, netting him $1.2 million in prize money. Before ever touching the football, he elected to donate half of that sum to Building Tomorrow, an international education nonprofit from his home state of Indiana. The field goal culminated a GameDay experience that, for Kacena-Merrell, began at midnight.

“In order to be one of those first 300 people to be eligible (to enter into the field goal raffle), you had to camp out the night,” Kacena-Merrell said. “We had a tent set up; we had a cooler full of water and stuff to make sure that we were staying hydrated … and a lot of guys were laying on the grass trying to get whatever sleep we could.”

Aydin Paz, a statistics and data science sophomore, sat among the more than twenty members of Beta Theta Phi fraternity who camped out alongside Kacena-Merrell for a chance to participate in the GameDay festivities. In order to maximize their chances of winning, the fraternity members pooled their tickets together and, if one was selected, would designate a kicker. The ticket holder and the kicker would split the prize money between themselves if won.

“It was between Connor and I (who) were going to take the kick for (the guys in our group),” Paz said. “We had actually kicked and played soccer. … Most people said they would give it to me. So, if anybody else in our group, except for Connor, (was pulled) … I would have (kicked).”

Two tickets were pulled before Kacena-Merrell’s, but the kickers were either not eligible or did not appear. On the third draw, he heard his number and started jumping up and down. Radio-television-film senior Hope Elliott watched the event from outside the pit, having fallen short of the initial 300 entrants.

“Once (the ticket was pulled), I assumed that it was going to be a pledge,” Elliott said. “Everyone was rooting for him, even the Ohio State people. … Matthew McConaughey really cultivated that environment.”

Missing the first kick, worth $1 million, wide to the right, McConaughey urged host Pat McAfee to give Kacena-Merrell another chance. McConaughey and host Kirk Herbstreit threw in an extra $100,000 each, bringing the total prize to $1.2 million. This time, Kacena-Merrell didn’t miss.

“I jumped over the fence, I ran and I gave him the biggest hug,” Paz said. “I pushed McConaughey out of the way to get to Connor.”

Kacena-Merrell estimated an after-tax payout of between $300,000 and $400,000. He said he plans to put the money towards his education, investing the remainder.

“The best time to plant a tree was yesterday, but the second best time is right now,” Kacena-Merrell said, a favorite quote of his. “If you feel like you’re in a situation to give back and help people … don’t delay that.”

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