Manno on Debut: I Can't Really Put it into Words

Chris Manno described his NFL debut last Friday like you’d expect. It couldn’t have gotten any better when he stood in the end zone ready to receive a kickoff.

“I’m standing there in Arrowhead Stadium,” he said. “Ten months ago I was playing in front of 95 people in AFL2. Once you’re not thinking about that, it’s just football.”

The Chiefs were creamed by the Buccaneers, 25-0, but Manno had other things to worry about besides winning and losing in the first pre-season game of the season. This was an open audition for the newly signed Chief and he had no idea prior to opening kickoff how much playing time he would actually get in the game.

His first play came in the second quarter. Shortly after, the special teams coaches had him playing the gunner position – or in layman’s terms, a player who specializes in running down the sideline to tackle the kick or punt returner.

That proved to be tricky once the Buccaneers threw a double vice on him – two corners covering the gunner. It appeared he was mauled, his chin strap ripped off and jersey grabbed.

He received text messages from his old coaches at the IMG Football Academy, who told him he looked considerably fast compared to some others on the field. Every time he came into focus on television, he was right in the middle of the action.

Manno had the consequential butterflies earlier in the day, but settled down after team meetings and meals.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I can’t really put it into words. It was more an exciting feeling than nervous.”

His film sessions after the game were like any other, packed with the normal comments from the coaching staff.

Manno said he thought about taking the kick return out of the end zone briefly before taking a knee for a touchback in the fourth quarter.

“With the position I’m in right now, I want to let them know I’m coachable, so I kneeled on it,” he said. “They were happy with my efforts. It’s about the guy who wants to be out there more and work the hardest, which I don’t have a problem doing.”

The Chiefs travel to Baltimore for their second pre-season game Friday at 7 p.m. Stay tuned to Patch for more Manno stories throughout the next week.