Since it is SUPER BOWL week it seems fitting to share a neat Patrick Mahomes story Mark Kraft shared with me.
Before Mahomes entered the seventh grade he and another boy named Ryan Cheatham were invited to a Whitehouse High School football field for a special workout with the school’s varsity offensive coordinator.
Mahomes and Cheatham were widely known in the area, especially for their baseball resume which included being the one-two punch for the Tyler, Texas Youth Baseball team which won their age group U.S.A. title.
In the football workout, the boys went toe to toe with neither gaining the upper hand. It also stood out how they complimented each other throughout the drills. This behavior continued as Mahomes and Cheatham became close friends spending most every weekend together at one or the other home.
One story was about Mrs. Cheatham’s chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and ketchup, lots of ketchup often creating a chicken fried puddle on Patrick’s plate.
Mahomes and Cheatham were so close in talent that they split playing time at quarterback throughout middle school. In their sophomore year, Mahomes was elevated to the varsity as a safety where he played very well while Cheatham played quarterback on the Junior Varsity.
In their junior year, the boys alternated haves until the third game which was played in a cold rain. Mahomes played the first half flawlessly, never slipping or fumbling and at half-time, the coaches decided he should play the second half too.
Ryan Cheatham later said he knew Pat had won their dual that night, but the story doesn’t end there. Mahomes and Cheatham who moved to tight end developed chemistry the rest of their career that they now describe as “Kelce 1.0!
The question in the Whitehouse halls was which sport would Mahomes play in college? If Vegas put odds on Pat it would likely have been even money on football, 3 to 1 on baseball, but sharp bettors would have thrown some long shot money at basketball which Mahomes told his friends was actually his favorite sport.
I have only scratched the surface so please open the article and read it. You’ll learn about #15’s baseball efforts at Texas Tech – about his final high school game where he threw 8 T.D. passes, but his team still lost 65-60, and the incredible story about Pat and Ryan Cheatham’s encounter with a future major league pitcher.
It is an amazing story about Patrick Mahomes.
And, HOW ABOUT THOSE CHIEFS!!!
I’m Steve Sauder
Link to above referenced story – https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35524416/patrick-mahomes-kansas-city-chiefs
