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| (L to R) Mitch Wheeler, Mitch Holthus, The Blind QB, Sharon Brown |
"Mahomes is under center, and he throws a slant to
Tyreek Hill for a gain of about fifteen yards. Now Mahomes is under center
again, dropping back and throws a deep ball to Travis Kelce on a post route.
Now, empty backfield, with Kelce flexed right. Now Mahomes lines up and Spencer
Ware is at running back.”
These were just some of the words spoken by
Mitch Holthus, providing the play-by-play for a section of Tuesday’s practice. His voice was more subdued than what one has come to expect from the exuberant and excited Holthus. But still
his descriptions painted the flawless picture of the events unfolding on the
practice field, but his words and precise descriptions did not go into a
microphone or headset, but into the attentive ear of a blind man sitting next
to him. (Pictured to the left)
Tuesday, August 7th. An overcast morning. I, the Blind Quarterback,
found myself sitting in the VIP tent of Chiefs Training camp, in a
chair, up against a small rock wall, facing towards the two practice
fields where the Kansas City Chiefs went through many different drills while “Jump
Around” by House of Pain blared from speakers.
On any other day, I would have
flicked on the radio, with hope and anticipation that
Mitch Holthus would allow my blind eyes to see what was happening down on the
field, but on this day, I did not need my radio, for Mitch sat in his own chair on my left, doing what he does best, using his words as a paint
brush and helping a blind man to see.
My morning at Chiefs training camp could not have begun on a stronger note, for
in the parking lot, just finishing his breakfast and strolling to his car to
drive the short distance down to the field, was Tight End #87 Travis Kelce. He
gave me a jovial “hello” and engulfed my smaller hand in his massive grip, the
perfect hand for catching a pass on a post route. (Picture to the right)
I would take a golf cart from
there, down into the VIP tent, where I would spend my morning conversing with
Mitch Holthus, Dani Welniak, Kendall Gammon, Matt McMullen and several others.
I did an interview with Dani Welniak for KCTV 5 news and another interview with
Matt McMullen for Chiefs.com. I shook another enormous hand, and attempted to
put my arm around the shoulders of Chiefs Hall of Fame Linebacker Gary Spani
for a picture. For those of you who do not know, Spani played for the Chiefs
from 1978 to 1986 as a linebacker. In his career he logged 999 tackles and is
now in the Chiefs Hall of Fame.
(Photo to the left)
As far as the Chiefs themselves go, Pat Mahomes completed 24 out of 25 passes, the one incompletion
being a dropped pass. The only distressing news of note, is that Daniel
Sorensen did not practice yesterday and is currently in the injury tent with a
knee injury he received on a previous drill the day before.
The Chiefs play their first preseason game on Thursday,
August 9th, at 7:30 PM in Arrowhead against the Houston Texans, then
reconvene at training camp on Saturday. Coach Reid has stated that in the
preseason game, each quarterback will be given one quarter of playing time,
beginning with #15 Patrick Mahomes. "I know he's going to try to keep it
to where he's going to let everybody play and he's going to try to get everyone
their reps," Mahomes said, "but if I don't score, I might say a little something to him."
It was a morning I shall never forget, and one that I
was extremely blessed to be a part of, but out of all the excitement
surrounding the VIP tent that morning. The moment that will forever stick in my
mind, is myself and Mitch Holthus, sitting in our chairs and for those
moments, Mitch was not broadcasting or providing his special brand of
commentating to the masses, it was just Mitch, me and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Stay tuned on Friday, for the Blind QB’s analysis of the
first preseason game.
