The last time McKenna Sean “Bear” Pascoe entered AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, he was wearing cleats. The next time he enters the stadium it will be wearing cowboy boots. 

Pascoe has been learning the ropes in the rodeo world lately and a recent phone call inviting him to compete at RFD-TV’s The American, presented by Dish, means the NFL player turned steer wrestler has a chance to compete for $1 million next weekend. 

Watch The American LIVE Feb. 18-25 on FloRodeo

As a tight end for the New York Giants from 2009 to 2013, Pascoe played in four games at AT&T Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys. 

“(Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones, he did a great job when he built that stadium and it was a fun, fun atmosphere to play in,” Pascoe told RFD-TV’s Amy Wilson. “But now to be going back as an actual cowboy and getting to steer wrestle, it’s going to be just a really neat experience. I’ll have some good memories there from playing football and hopefully be making some good memories steer wrestling too.”

The former NFL player, who wrapped up his career in 2016, is new to the world of professional rodeo, but not new to the cowboy lifestyle. Pascoe, now 31, grew up on a ranch in California where his father, who also had the opportunity to become a professional football player but decided to follow the path of ranching and rodeo, instilled the cowboy lifestyle in Pascoe and his brother, Ryan, at a very young age.

The ranch kid known as "Bear" followed his own path through college and professional football, eventually defeating the New England Patriots 21-17 as a member of the Giants at Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.

After a seven-year career in the NFL, Pascoe hit the pro rodeo trail in 2017 and showed a lot of promise, finishing the regular season as the No. 5 steer wrestler in the permit standings and earning a spot in the PRCA’s Permit Member of the Year Challenge. While at the challenge, Pascoe was one of only two permit steer wrestlers to get both of their steers down. 

He won the event with a time of 9.8 on two head, the next closest time coming in at 15.1 on two. 

Pascoe's performance at the permit challenge led to a promising prediction from Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer Joe Baumgartner who said in a prorodeo.com press release that, “Bear Pascoe very well may be the first cowboy to wear both a gold Super Bowl XLVI ring and a Gold Buckle.”

At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds Pascoe can easily muscle his way through a steer wrestling run. His pro football background not only gives him the size and muscle to get the job done but also the athleticism to make steer wrestling runs with a little more finesse.

At such an early stage in his rodeo career, he has the makings of creating a promising balance of the strength and agility required to become a top steer wrestler. 

He can also look to a veteran in the event to learn how to strike that balance between sheer strength and finessed technique. The Morro Bay, California, native learns the art of steer wrestling under three-time world champion steer wrestler, and father-in-law, John W. Jones Jr.

“One of the biggest things that Johnny coaches is technique — he was a smaller guy in a time when the steers were bigger and he's known for his technique and that’s something I’ve really tried to take on in my career, is learning his technique,” Pascoe told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a video interview.

Pascoe has been traveling to professional rodeos this winter with fellow steer wrestlers Billy Bugenig, Jacob Shofner, J.D. Struxness, and Sterling Lambert. While Pascoe admits he hasn’t had the best of winter runs, a recent call from Randy Bernard, former CEO of RFD-TV, means he will have the opportunity to turn his winter around in a very big way. 

“Talking with Randy when I got the call first off I admitted it to him, I was like, ‘Man, there’s a lot more other guys out there that probably deserve this opportunity more than I do’ but he was very gracious and offered it to me and I didn’t want to turn it down, because it’s a great opportunity and I’m excited to get there and do the best I can,” Pascoe said.

Other exemption athletes who have been invited to compete in the finals on February 25 are Tee Woolman and Leo “The Lion” Camarillo in the team roping. The pair have eight world titles between them, won one of those titles together in 1980, and are both inducted in to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.