This was an article that appeared in the Friday edition of the Kansas City Star:
Royals pitcher John McMillon was a freshman at Texas Tech in the fall of 2016, a time when the quarterback on the Red Raiders football team was turning heads nationally. Although his college days in Lubbock overlapped briefly with Patrick Mahomes, McMillon saw the impact the Chiefs quarterback had on campus. Mahomes threw 41 touchdown passes in the 2016 season, his last at Texas Tech. “Dude, he was the man,” said McMillon, who recalled meeting Mahomes once on campus. “He was THE man. “That’s Mr. Texas Tech, for real. He’s earned it. He’s a beast. He’s the best. And guess where he’s from: East Texas.”
McMillon grew up in Jasper, another East Texas city, a little more than a 2 1/2 hour drive to Mahomes’ hometown of Tyler. East Texas is another connection between the Royals and Chiefs players. Mahomes, the two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP, was inducted into Texas Tech’s Ring of Honor last fall. The Big 12 school has a marketing partnership with the Chiefs, and McMillon noted how much Mahomes has meant to Texas Tech. “It’s cool for the school, I mean, definitely,” he said. “They’ve definitely benefited from that a lot. You know what I mean? That’s why I’m saying it’s all good. Everybody loves Pat.”
McMillon on Wednesday was called up by the Royals from Double-A Northwest Arkansas, and he made his MLB debut in Thursday’s 6-4 loss to the Mariners. It’s been a memorable year for McMillon, a 25-year-old right-hander who started the season with the Class A Columbia Fireflies. His former teammates were watching as he got the first of his two strikeouts Thursday.
Like McMillon, Mahomes played baseball at Tech, although it was a brief stint. Mahomes appeared in three games in 2015 and had a memorably bad pitching performance. “They told me about it when I got there,” McMillon said. “And from what I heard, he would like just show up at baseball practice right after football practice. I think with what he was doing at football, he kind of knew what was up. He knew before everyone else (how good he’d be at football). “It’s no big deal to him. He’s just like, ‘I’m just playing football.’ In his head, I feel like he’s just a kid, just out there slinging it. And that’s why he’s so good.”
Royals pitcher John McMillon was a freshman at Texas Tech in the fall of 2016, a time when the quarterback on the Red Raiders football team was turning heads nationally. Although his college days in Lubbock overlapped briefly with Patrick Mahomes, McMillon saw the impact the Chiefs quarterback had on campus. Mahomes threw 41 touchdown passes in the 2016 season, his last at Texas Tech. “Dude, he was the man,” said McMillon, who recalled meeting Mahomes once on campus. “He was THE man. “That’s Mr. Texas Tech, for real. He’s earned it. He’s a beast. He’s the best. And guess where he’s from: East Texas.”
McMillon grew up in Jasper, another East Texas city, a little more than a 2 1/2 hour drive to Mahomes’ hometown of Tyler. East Texas is another connection between the Royals and Chiefs players. Mahomes, the two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP, was inducted into Texas Tech’s Ring of Honor last fall. The Big 12 school has a marketing partnership with the Chiefs, and McMillon noted how much Mahomes has meant to Texas Tech. “It’s cool for the school, I mean, definitely,” he said. “They’ve definitely benefited from that a lot. You know what I mean? That’s why I’m saying it’s all good. Everybody loves Pat.”
McMillon on Wednesday was called up by the Royals from Double-A Northwest Arkansas, and he made his MLB debut in Thursday’s 6-4 loss to the Mariners. It’s been a memorable year for McMillon, a 25-year-old right-hander who started the season with the Class A Columbia Fireflies. His former teammates were watching as he got the first of his two strikeouts Thursday.
Like McMillon, Mahomes played baseball at Tech, although it was a brief stint. Mahomes appeared in three games in 2015 and had a memorably bad pitching performance. “They told me about it when I got there,” McMillon said. “And from what I heard, he would like just show up at baseball practice right after football practice. I think with what he was doing at football, he kind of knew what was up. He knew before everyone else (how good he’d be at football). “It’s no big deal to him. He’s just like, ‘I’m just playing football.’ In his head, I feel like he’s just a kid, just out there slinging it. And that’s why he’s so good.”
