Career Highlights: All-Pro Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has already led the team to two Super Bowls, including winning Super Bowl LIV in February 2020, where the Chiefs defeated San Francisco for their first title since 1970. For his efforts, Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP, the youngest quarterback to do so. Selected 10th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, Mahomes’ performance throughout the 2018 season earned him multiple awards including being named NFL MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL passing touchdowns leader, First-Team All-Pro, and to his first of four consecutive Pro Bowls. Mahomes became just the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for 50 touchdowns and 5,000 passing yards in a season, and the fastest player to 4,000 passing yards by accomplishing the feat in just 13 career games. In just five NFL career seasons, Mahomes holds numerous other NFL and Kansas City franchise records including fastest to 10,000 career passing yards (34 games), fastest to 100 career touchdowns (40 games), most consecutive 300-plus passing yard games (eight, tied), and career passing yards per game (303.4).
Harrison Smith
Career Highlights: Harrison Smith is the All-Pro free safety of the Minnesota Vikings. Selected 29th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame, Smith made an immediate impact on the Vikings defense in his rookie season with 104 combined tackles, three interceptions and two touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named to the Pro Football Writers All-Rookie Team. A 10-year NFL veteran, Smith had his best season in 2021 with 114 combined tackles. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times (2015-2019, 2021) and was named First-Team All-Pro in 2017 and Second-Team All-Pro in 2018. He set a Vikings record in 2015 with his fourth career interception return for a touchdown, returning four of his 12 interceptions at the time for scores in his first four NFL seasons. In his NFL career, Smith has played in 145 games with 640 solo tackles, 16.5 sacks, 29 interceptions and four touchdowns. Smith played four years collegiately at Notre Dame where he played various defensive positions including linebacker and strong safety and finished with 309 tackles and seven interceptions.
Dylan Dreyer
Career Highlights: Dylan Dreyer is a co-host of third-hour of NBC’s “Today” show and serves as a weekday weather correspondent, and also correspondent on “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.” Dryer also was the weather anchor of “Weekend Today” for nine years from 2012 to this past February. She has co-hosted the Sirius XM Radio show, “Off the Rails,” with co-hosts Al Roker and Sheinelle Jones, and has hosted “Earthy Odyssey with Dylan Dreyer” on Saturdays for the past three years, which followed “Journey with Dylan Dreyer,” the Telly Award-winning program that aired on NBC on Saturday mornings. Dreyer also was a part of NBC’s extensive coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics, and 2021 Summer Olympics. Prior to joining NBC in 2012, Dreyer was the weekday morning meteorologist in Boston for WHDH’s “Today in New England” since 2007. From 2005 to 2007, she was the weekend meteorologist at WJAR-TV in Providence, Rhode Island, and from 2003 to 2005 she was the weekend meteorologist at WICU-TV in Erie, Pennsylvania. Dreyer graduated from Rutgers University in 2003, and wrote a children’s book titled, “Misty the Cloud: A Very Stormy Day.”
Josh Allen
Career Highlights: All-Pro quarterback Josh Allen is starting his fifth season with the Buffalo Bills after leading them to AFC Divisional Playoffs last year. In the Wild Card game against New England, Allen scored a touchdown on every offensive possession, completing the first ever “perfect offensive game” in NFL history. The next week against Kansas City, the Bills lost in overtime (after losing coin toss), with Allen’s 149.0 postseason passer rating being the highest in NFL history. Allen had a breakout season in 2020 when he led the Bills to their first division title and playoff victory since 1995. He set the Bills franchise records for single-season passing yards and touchdowns, while earning Pro Bowl and Second-Team All-Pro honors. A seven-time AFC Offensive Player-of-the-Week and two-time AFC Offensive Player-of-the-Month honoree, Allen was named the 2020 Most Improved Player. Selected seventh overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by Buffalo after three seasons at Wyoming (2015-17) and one year at Reedley College (2014), Allen earned Second Team All-Mountain West honors in 2017, and in 2016 led Wyoming to a Mountain Division co-championship and the school’s first-ever appearance in the Mountain West Championship game.
Joe Mauer
Career Highlights: A six-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, three-time Gold Glove honoree and an American League MVP, Joe Mauer spent his entire 15-year MLB career playing for his hometown Minnesota Twins. Selected first overall in the 2001 MLB Draft, Mauer was a star high school athlete becoming the only athlete ever to be selected as the USA Today High School Athlete of the Year in two sports. Named the 2001 Gatorade National Player of the Year in football, Mauer forgo his football commitment to Florida State for a professional baseball career with the Twins. Two years after his MLB debut in 2004, Mauer became the first catcher in history to lead the American League in batting average (.347). He was the only catcher to win three AL batting titles. In 2009, he became the first catcher to lead the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage in a season, and for his efforts was named the American League MVP. Mauer retired in 2018 and played in 1,858 games posting a .306 average, 2,123 hits, and 923 RBI.
Pat McAfee
Career Highlights: Pat McAfee is a former All-Pro punter and kickoff specialist for the Indianapolis Colts, and current sports analyst, professional wrestling color commentator, and professional wrestler. Drafted as an All-American out of West Virginia in the 2009 NFL Draft, McAfee played for eight NFL seasons and played in the Super Bowl his rookie year in a loss to the New Orleans Saints. Widely considered one of the best punters in the league, he was a two-time Pro Bowler and also was named First-Team All-Pro in 2014. He played in 127 regular season games averaging 46.4 yards per punt. Since retiring in 2017, he held various football analyst roles with ESPN including Thursday Night primetime games, and as a contributor on “Get Up,” “College GameDay,” and other ESPN shows. McAfee has served in various commentator roles for the WWE, including during 2020 making his WWE NXT in-ring debut after feuding with Adam Cole. He recently moved to WWE SmackDown as a commentator. McAfee is also an entrepreneur and stand-up comedian, and hosts his nationally syndicated “Pat McAfee Show,” of which he recently signed a four-year deal with FanDuel.
Michael PEÑA
Career Highlights: Actor Michael Peña has been acting in Hollywood for more than 25 years, with an eclectic film and television career that includes memorable parts in back-to-back Oscar Best Pictures “Million Dollar Baby” and “Crash,” and on the small screen in the acclaimed series “The Shield.” Most recently, he starred in the 2022 film “Moonfall,” “Tom and Jerry,” “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,“ “Fantasy Island,” and six films in 2018 including “The Mule,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” and “12 Strong.” Peña played the lead role of DEA agent Kiki Camarena in the television series “Narcos: Mexico.” He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor in “End of Watch” alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, and an ALMA Award for Special Achievement in film in portraying “Cesar Chavez.” Other notable roles were played in movies such as “Fury” alongside Brad Pitt, “Shooter” with Mark Wahlberg, and “The Lincoln Lawyer” with Matthew McConaughey. Peña’s resume includes more than 50 films including “American Hustle,” “Battle: Los Angeles,” “Tower Heist,” “Babel,” “Collateral Beauty,” and “Observe and Report,” to name a few.
Jay Bilas
Career Highlights: ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas excels on the popular college basketball program “College GameDay,” and in 2015 added analyzing the “Saturday Primetime” game-of-the-week telecasts to his repertoire. Bilas, who has been with ESPN since 1995, also provides Men’s Final Four studio coverage, writes for ESPN.com, and contributes to “SportsCenter” and ESPN Radio. A six-time Emmy nominee as Outstanding Sports Personality-Studio Analyst and Outstanding Sports Personality-Event Analyst, Bilas was the recipient of the prestigious 2016 Curt Gowdy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In college, Bilas was a four-year starter at Duke from 1982-86. He scored 1,062 points, grabbed 692 rebounds and helped Duke to the 1986 NCAA Championship game. Drafted by the Dallas Mavericks, Bilas chose to play professional basketball overseas, ranking among top scorers in Italy during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, and in Spain for part of the 1989 season. Bilas returned to Duke in 1990 to serve as an assistant coach, while also earning his law degree from Duke Law School. As an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Championship game three times, winning back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992.
Kyle Rudolph
Career Highlights: Kyle Rudolph played college football at Notre Dame from 2008-2010. Rudolph had a productive career at the school, finishing fourth most in both career receptions and yardage by a tight end in school history. He decided to forgo his senior season to enter the 2011 NFL Draft, and was selected in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings, 43rd overall. Rudolph has been with Minnesota for eight seasons, being selected to the Pro Bowl twice (2012, 2017). He has currently earned 386 receptions, 3,787 receiving yards, and 41 receiving touchdowns.
Shane Victorino
Career Highlights: Former major league outfielder Shane Victorino is a two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. Drafted out of high school by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999, Victorino was selected by San Diego in the Rule 5 Draft, thus he began his major league career with the Padres in 2003. Nicknamed “The Flyin’ Hawaiian,” Victorino played the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2005 to 2012. With the Phillies, Victorino won three of his four Gold Glove Awards, was named to two All-Star Games, and was instrumental in helping the team with several key hits and defensive plays on their path to win the 2008 World Series. Traded to the Dodgers in 2012, Victorino signed with Boston in 2013 where he spent three seasons. He won his fourth Gold Glove honor in 2013 and won his second World Series ring after the Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. In July 2015 he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels, which would prove to be his final MLB season. Victorino finished his 12-year MLB career playing in 1,299 games with 1,274 hits, 108 homeruns, and a .275 average.