WATCH: Patrick Mahomes was a multiple-sport star at Whitehouse High School in Texas

Senior Patrick Mahomes lit up the Bobcats' secondary for 455 passing yards and four scores that day, and for good measure, he crossed everyone up by improvising for a rushing touchdown as well.

In the locker room, he also called an audible by accepting the first game ball and then paying it forward to Adam Cook, making his varsity head coaching debut.

Cook, the Wildcats' offensive coordinator the previous three seasons, was floored, even emotional about the gesture then.




Cook, now the school's athletic director, displays that football proudly in his office along with other Mahomes mementos. "How many 18-year-olds, during a moment of glory and personal adulation, would have the genuine heart and maturity to hand a grown man the game ball?" Cook asked. "It touched me then but looking back now, knowing that the 2018 MVP and face of the NFL honored me in that way is more than special.

"It tells you largely everything you need to know about Patrick Mahomes."


Over the previous three days alone, the 42-year-old athletic director said he'd done more than 20 interviews from local and national media who've wandered their way to the remote East Texas campus about 125 miles east of Dallas and 75 miles west of the Louisiana border.

They've asked Cook everything under the sun about Mahomes, from his academics to practice habits to social engagement to martial arts skills and acting prowess.


The son of former Major League pitcher Pat Mahomes — he grew up taking infield lessons from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez when his dad was with the Yankees — Patrick Mahomes faced the real possibility of not playing football again if he was drafted high enough.



At 6-foot-3, 215 pound in high school, he hit 93 mph with his fastball and played every position but catcher for the Wildcats during a four-year career. Mahomes hit nearly .500 during his time at Whitehouse and fired a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over Mount Pleasant during his senior year. Later that same day, Mahomes went 3-for-4 with a home run and knocked in three runs in a 10-3 win over Princeton.




"I really think he's just scratching the surface (at quarterback) with the time he played different sports throughout the year," Kingsbury told Sports Illustrated at the time. "When he really focuses on football the majority of the time I think you're really going to see him take off in that position."

Boy, did Kingsbury prove correct. A prolific three-year college career led him to be the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL draft and eventually the first quarterback in history to throw for more than 5,000 yards in college and in an NFL season.



But Cook and others say had Mahomes been a one-sport kid, perhaps his creative and unique style wouldn't have flourished. The side-arm throws and no-look flips on the gridiron could be traced to the baseball field and basketball hardwood, the latter actually being his first love.

Yes, Mahomes was also a Division I basketball prospect, where he averaged 19.2 points and 8.3 rebounds his senior season at Whitehouse. He scored 49 and 37 in two playoff wins when the Wildcats needed him to take over.

"Whatever Patrick focused on, whatever he touched, he excelled," Cook said. "His parents did a great job of not forcing him to choose one sport or specialize. Whatever sport he played at the time was his favorite. And we all embraced it. He was the poster child for three-sport athletes and I think that gave him the freedom you see him playing with now."

Richard Peacock, Whitehouse's athletic director before Cook, said in 2014 that Mahomes was the best all-around athlete he'd ever seen in Texas. And he'd seen many over five different decades. 

"What he's accomplished is amazing, but honestly more amazing might be what a great young man he is," Peacock said. "How humble he is despite all the attention he receives really speaks to his character and upbringing.




"He always plays with them and talks and listens," Jenkins said. "He'll play catch and help coach them. There's not a selfish bone in Patrick's body, which is very refreshing. Especially considering how gifted he is and how much attention he receives from the media and colleges.

"He's once-in-a-lifetime talent. He's a once-in-a-lifetime kid."

He's a kid no longer.

But what Cook saw while coaching Mahomes is what he sees today. He said he often looks at the MaxPreps photos taken during Mahomes' senior year in football and baseball and sees more than action shots.

"You see him throwing from the side or the determination of his face as he pitches and it encompasses all the traits of the player who is helping evolve the (NFL) today," Cook said. "And all he did here, in all three sports, was pursue greatness and compete for his team and school. He went as hard as he could each and every game of every sport. He gave it his all."

And a game ball to boot.