January 21, 2023

By Fred Liggett
[email protected]

The Kansas City Chiefs finished a successful 2022-23 regular season with a win in Las Vegas on Saturday, Jan. 7. Chiefs players and coaches upon returning to Kansas City felt good in that they finished the season on a five game winning streak to end up at 14-3. Another accomplishment was earning the top seed in the upcoming AFC playoffs which meant a bye week for the Chiefs.

While Chiefs coaches kept working the players were given a few days off to rest up for the playoff run that every one hopes ends in Arizona for Super Bowl 57. A number of players chose to travel during this time and others chose to stay home in KC near family and friends. One of those choosing to stay home was quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In addition to that Mahomes chose to work out on his own during his time off.

Mahomes found a metro area park to throw a football around but needed someone to throw to. Thankfully for Mahomes three Lee’s Summit residents were ready for this assignment. Max Whisner along with Micah and Josh Manning had the enviable task of catching throws from the one time Super Bowl and NFL MVP.

Max Whisner, a Mizzou freshman tight end, found out from Micah Manning that Mahomes was looking to throw to some players. Whisner says he “thought he was lying.” Not only was Manning and Whisner there but a total of six players showed up on the first day and eight on the next day. This practice took place at an area park that had a regular size field. This park not only provided a field with NFL dimensions to use but also afforded the players the chance to play on grass.

Whisner called the experience “really unique.” Whisner previously has caught passes from current NFL quarterbacks Drew Lock and Skylar Thompson and now adds Mahomes to that list. Whisner says, “The ball keeps gliding” on throws delivered by Mahomes. Each practice lasted for about 35-40 minutes. Mahomes after warming up would begin throwing to those area players agreeing to show up to catch. Micah Manning is a redshirt sophomore at Mizzou and another former Lee’s Summit Tiger on site for the fun was wide receiver Joshua Manning a freshman this fall at Mizzou.

Whisner believes this activity by Mahomes “is just a bye week thing.” Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs players were given a few days off by the coaching staff during the team’s bye week. For three former Lee’s Summit Tigers they were very happy to be on for a couple of days and help out one of the best players in the National Football League.