After a lifetime of experience around the aviation community, Kansas City Chiefs long snapper James Winchester got to take the ride of a lifetime with the Blue Angels. The team shared a recorded short film featuring Winchester, celebrating the life of his late father. Titled “Leaving a Legacy,” the short film shows Winchester going up in a demonstration plane for a full flight experience with the naval aviators that looked like a dream come true.
He prefaced the experience by describing the time he had spent around airplanes growing up, going to events with his dad who worked with an airline for the better part of 30 years.
“Growing up going to air shows in Oklahoma City at Will Rogers World Airport, my dad worked for Southwest Airlines for 29 years, so I grew up with a fascination and a love for aviation,” Winchester said. “My dad loved the Blue Angels, loved the Thunderbirds, so I had a love for aviation and grew up watching dad work around Boeing 737s, and then [I was] obviously carted around at air shows.
“I had two dreams growing up in life, to play football and be a pilot. That’s kind of what I wanted to do. I think I’m slacking on one of those dreams, but I think the other one has worked out pretty well.”
While he won’t be turning in his cleats for a pilot helmet anytime soon after signing a two-year extension with the Chiefs, Winchester’s passion for the skies was hard to hide at altitude. Only a handful of people know the feeling of being in a high-performance fighter jet, and after an experience as unique as this, he is sure not to forget it.
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