Many NFL players thrive in professions unrelated to the game of football when they retire, and the Kansas City Chiefs have seen several such athletes come through the franchise over the years.
This week, Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to one of the unsung heroes of Kansas City’s swarming secondaries in the 1990s, former Chiefs cornerback Mark McMillian.
In his interview with Easton Jr., McMillian opened up about his upcoming appearance at the Chiefs Kingdom Tailgate at Flanker Kitchen + Sports Bar on October 26 and 27 in Las Vegas, his ‘Grill’n McMillian’ franchise, the ‘Mighty Mouse’ nickname he earned in the NFL, and the experience he had working under Gordon Ramsay on ‘Next Level Chef.’
“I started ‘Grill’n McMillian‘; I’ve been in business for four years and have been selling my spices here in Arizona, Las Vegas, and Hy-Vee in Kansas City,” McMillian said. “So just excited for this opportunity to be able to give back and for everybody to enjoy the spices and the barbecue sauce; it’s got a little Kansas City sweet heat thing to it.”
McMillian has a unique nickname from his playing days: ‘Mighty Mouse.’ He explained the nickname’s origins and its fit with the 1990s Chiefs.
“My JUCO (Junior College) coach always called me Sweet Pete from the movie Popeye,” McMillian explained. “Then, when I went to Philadelphia, it was Mighty Mac, Mighty Mouse. It took off when I got to Kansas City because Derrick Thomas was the Falcon, and Andre Rison was Spider-Man.
“And they said, man, we got to name you because you’re doing good. And, with the Chiefs’ colors, I always came up with an interception at the right time. I just went to that theme, and then they started playing the Mighty Mouse theme song when I started getting interceptions. So that was pretty cool.”
In 2023, McMillian appeared as a contestant on the second season of the American culinary reality competition television series Next Level Chef, mentored by Gordon Ramsay. He compared his experience under the famous chef to playing under some of the best football coaches.
“They’re almost the same, you know, they’re both fiery. Marty (Schottenheimer) was fiery,” McMillian explained. “I played under Ray Rhodes in Philadelphia, who had a lot of fire and a lot of passion, and Gene Stallings in Alabama. He was a Bear Bryant guy. So he had that kind of mean draw and tenacity. And that was one of the questions they asked me during the psych evaluation test. What if Gordon gets in your face and starts yelling? What would you do?
“I was honest. I don’t know what I would do, so I’ve been in that situation before as a coach, but I knew that was my job. A cooking show, I didn’t know what I would do. Still, he’s totally a different person off camera; being selected for that show and flying to London from, you know, just grilling in the backyard to being on one of the hit shows ‘Next Level Chef’ was unbelievable. I continue to carry that torch, and now I am hosting tailgate parties.”
McMillian will continue to extend his business beyond football with event cooking demonstrations.
“I have a tailgate event that I’m doing this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for NASCAR, where I’m doing a cooking demonstration for fans as well,” said McMillian. “So I’m just not doing football. I’m transferring over to the NASCAR space as well.”
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For more information on the Chiefs Kingdom Tailgate at Flanker Kitchen + Sports Bar, log on to flankerlv.com