Yahoo Finance Earliest known Patrick Mahomes autograph ever auctioned features special story from 2013
A baseball that’s believed to be the earliest Patrick Mahomes autograph offered in a major auction has a heartfelt story behind it.
The memorabilia is a signed baseball and a signed high school baseball team photo from 2013, when the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback was an 18-year-old junior.
Endearing story of Mahomes’ earliest auctioned piece
Lelands has the pieces up for bidding as part of its 2020 Fall Classic Auction. The ball is signed by Mahomes and 21 other players with “2013 Whitehouse Wildcats” written on it. The 11-inch by 14-inch photo shows the team on a baseball field and is signed above and below the players.
The pieces are from a family in Bullard, a Texas town neighboring Whitehouse. Their middle child was diagnosed with Leukemia in January of 2013, according to Lelands, and was the special guest at a local tournament.
The Wildcats team showed up to support the child, and posed for the photo. Mahomes signed and wrote his No. 5 at the top right.
The baseball came into play days later. The child threw out the first pitch to Mahomes at the Class 4A Region II championship game, which the Wildcats won. The team signed the ball and gifted it to the family.
Whitehouse swept the best-of-three series and advanced to the Texas Class 4A state tournament for the first time in school history.
Mahomes experiencing incredible year
Mahomes’ own story since that regional championship is a well-recited path. The three-sport athlete chose to solely pursue football at Texas Tech after first playing both baseball and football. He was drafted 10th overall in the 2017 NFL draft and has lit up professional stadiums ever since.
In February, the now 25-year-old won his first Super Bowl with the Chiefs. And in the offseason he signed a record-breaking contract to stay with the team for the next decade. He received his Super Bowl ring, and then bestowed one on high school sweetheart, Brittany Matthews. They announced in late September they are expecting their first child together. It’s a girl.
Auction features Michael Jordan ‘Last Dance’ items
The auction, which runs through Dec. 11, is headlined by items gifted by NBA legend Michael Jordan to his security guard, John Michael Wozniak. Wozniak was part of “The Last Dance” series on ESPN.
It includes a Chicago Bulls security jacket signed by Jordan, a 1993 Christmas Rolex watch gifted by him and a 1998 six-time NBA championship ring presented to Wozniak.
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