ESPN’s College GameDay made its 13th appearance in Knoxville. The guest picker for the pregame show was actor Johnny Knoxville, who grew up in South Knoxville and wore a full Tennessee uniform with shoulder pads to make his picks.
Tennessee sophomore civil engineering major Colby Lamb made a $1.5 million kick after being selected to take part in the weekly kicking competition sponsored by GameDay personality and former NFL kicker Pat McAfee.
Kicking barefoot and wearing an orange Peyton Manning Tennessee jersey with jeans, Lamb missed his first attempt at the 33-yard kick wide right. But Manning, who was on set for the kick, advocated for Lamb to get another try. Lamb booted the second attempt right down the middle and immediately began celebrating once it sailed over the crossbar.
The fans surrounding the GameDay set went crazy, and the large crowd already inside Neyland watching on the Jumbotron erupted into cheers when the kick was shown.
“Unbelievable. It doesn’t even feel real,” said Lamb, a Bristol, Tennessee native who said he had never kicked before his first attempt. “I haven’t slept in 38 hours. I’m super excited to tell my mom.”
Lamb received $1 million and $500,000 will be donated to the Pat Summitt Foundation. Lamb knew what he planned to do with his share of the money.
“It’s to pay off school, pay off my best friend’s school, and pay off my sister’s school,” he said. “That is the first thing I want to do. It’s all going to our school and investing in the future.