KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Nathan Carnahan will soon have the wedding and honeymoon of his dreams, thanks to Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes' involvement was indirect but he helped nonetheless. Carnahan is paying for his wedding and a subsequent trip to Europe in part with $8,000 he won last year betting on Mahomes to be the NFL's MVP.
My Wedding is this Saturday!
— Nathan Carnahan (@Ncarnahan) September 18, 2019
I'm active duty military and don't make a lot of money but Last year I put $200 on Mahomes winning MVP & thanks to him I now have the money to pay for me and @myownisrael wedding and honey moon.
Thank you @PatrickMahomes! pic.twitter.com/8EfQE17i0D
Smart bet or nah? #PattyMahomies pic.twitter.com/3iPJeeUrCz
— Nathan Carnahan (@Ncarnahan) July 26, 2018
Carnahan, 25, and fiancée, Israel Ritnour, will get married in St. Louis on Saturday and then jet to Spain for a two-week vacation after his $200 bet made before the 2018 season paid off at 40-1.
"We didn't come from rich families," Carnahan said this week. "We're not getting any help from our moms or dads. We're not getting any financial help from family members. So without this bet, [the reception] would have been a couple people and a keg in the backyard and a honeymoon in Arizona. Now we've got a venue and food and a DJ. This helped us afford a real nice wedding instead of a thrown-together thing. And we're going to Spain for our honeymoon."
Carnahan is a surgical technician in the Air Force at Travis Air Force Base in California.
"You know how in the movies where the doctor is, like, 'Scalpel'?" he said. "I'm the guy that finds the scalpel and hands it to him. That's my job."
Carnahan is a Kansas City Chiefs fan and said he was moved to bet on Mahomes heading into his first season as a starter after seeing how little the Chiefs did to repair a leaky defense from 2017.
"Free agency was done and the only thing they really did was bring in Sammy Watkins," he said. "My brain told me, 'Hey, this Chiefs defense is going to be really bad.' They had [Travis] Kelce, Watkins, [Kareem] Hunt at the time and [Tyreek] Hill. I figured if they were going to win 10, 11, 12 games it was because they were scoring 40 points a game.
"Me being a Chiefs fan, I made the biggest bet I've ever made. All my bets had been $10, $20 bets but never anything of real value. But it worked out. It worked out better than I expected, but I guess I expected it a little bit, right?"
Mahomes had a huge season, becoming the second player to throw 50 touchdown passes and for more than 5,000 yards in the same season. Carnahan said he was nervous Drew Brees might be the MVP instead and relaxed only after Mahomes was announced as the winner the night before the Super Bowl.
Carnahan placed his bet with an online bookmaker that accepts a maximum bet of $100. So he gave a friend another $100 to place a second bet on Mahomes.
His only regret now is that he didn't bet more.
"You win some and you lose some," he said. "At least I won the biggest one I've ever made."