5 highlights of Big Slick 2025: A Kelce brothers mishap & millions raised for kids
Jason Kelce did what at T-Mobile Center?
The stars were out in Kansas City for the 16th annual Big Slick fundraiser benefiting Children’s Mercy Hospital on Saturday, May 31.
For over three hours, 40+ actors, musicians and athletes entertained an intimate, but loud crowd in downtown Kansas City. The fans cheered, laughed and opened their wallets to bid on exclusive experiences, with the proceeds going to the children’s hospital.
Jason Kelce made a surprise appearance (and chugged a lot of beer), Patrick Mahomes threw some footballs, hundreds sang to honor former “Cheers” star and Jason Sudeikis’ uncle George Wendt, and millions of dollars were raised in total throughout the raucous night.
Big Slick broke its fundraising record this year, bringing in a whopping $4,530,012 in total for Children’s Mercy.
Here are the highlights that drew the loudest applause during the event.
A Stonestreet-Mahomes play
Fans at T-Mobile Center didn’t have to wait long for Patrick Mahomes to show off his football prowess Saturday night.
Shortly into the show, the Chiefs quarterback, who’s now a regular at the fundraiser, received a Jason Kelce-approved snap from host Eric Stonestreet.
Mahomes then threw the football — one of three footballs autographed for a raffle prize — in a perfect arc into the crowd to the lucky fan who’d won the raffle. The fan jumped up and caught it, thrilling the audience, who roared with approval.
Later, Jason Kelce was again denied the privilege of snapping the ball to the Chiefs star, a job that instead went to “Freaks and Geeks” actor Sam Levine. Mahomes threw another autographed ball into the crowd to a second raffle winner.
‘Life is a Highway’
The over 5,000 inside T-Mobile Center were treated to live performances from the musical guests in town for Big Slick.
The party kicked off with local band Perpetual Change playing covers of hit songs like rock band Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” and Green Day’s “Brain Stew,” before the celebrity guests were introduced one-by-one to the tune of “Sirius,” by The Alan Parsons Project, the song most associated with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.
Not soon after, first-time guest and Rascal Flatts singer Jay DeMarcus hopped on stage and sang the band’s most popular song, “Life is a Highway,” a cover from 1990s country singer Tom Cochrane that reached new heights when the band’s version was featured on the soundtrack to Disney Pixar’s hit movie, “Cars.”
Country singers and songwriters Logan Mize and Kendall Marvel also took the stage throughout the show to perform, and the final performance featured a reunion of two “American Idol” contestants.
Blue Springs native and “American Idol” winner David Cook was joined alongside Chris Daughtry to perform The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.” They were also assisted by actress Katherine McNamara on vocals and jazz musicians Adeev and Ezra Potash, who played horned instruments, and songwriter Philip Bowen, who played the fiddle.
Kelce brothers connect ... sort of
Jason Kelce eventually got his chance to snap a ball to Mahomes. Well, kind of.
The “New Heights” host geared up to snap, but instead threw an autographed football in a not-so-perfect arc to Travis Kelce, who was in the midst of the crowd.
Or, it was supposed to go to his brother — but Jason overshot it, and a fan caught the ball instead.
Hey, they tried.
All for the kids
The night was more than just footballs and laughs, though. The true meaning of the evening — raising money for sick kids and their families — shone through.
The story of Peter Vincent brought all the hosts together on stage to discuss the importance of Children’s Mercy Hospital and the benefits it provides to families in their care. Vincent was a 12-year-old kid diagnosed with leukemia. His family initially thought it was a rash when they took him to another hospital, and then the hospital told them to pack their bags and drive to Children’s Mercy, where he received treatment.
Peter Vincent died 12 days before Saturday’s show, his father Ryan Vincent shared in a video broadcast to the T-Mobile Center crowd. They were slowly resuming normal life once Peter returned home after a 100-day stay in the hospital, when Ryan Vincent said they received a phone call saying the cancer had come back.
Peter Vincent saved $1,800 from chores, Christmas and birthday gifts and decided to donate it to Children’s Mercy. The heartfelt video tribute to the 12-year-old encouraged tons of audience members to follow suit en route to a record-setting total raised for the hospital.
“We come to celebrate these amazing kids and families and they demonstrate their amazing spirit year after year,” host David Koechner said.
“They also help remind us just how much real strength shows up in these quiet and loving ways,” Sudeikis added.
Heartfelt ‘Cheers’ for George Wendt
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
Everyone knew George Wendt’s name inside T-Mobile Center, as the cloud of his death loomed over Big Slick this year. Widely known as Norm on the hit television sitcom “Cheers,” Wendt was a part of the first Big Slick 16 years ago and came back for 2024, where his nephew Sudeikis joined him in a recreation of a popular “SNL” sketch.
The end of every Big Slick event always ends the same: with every guest, family members, production crew and anyone associated with putting the fundraiser together joining on stage to sing the “Cheers” theme song.
Sudeikis and the rest of the hosts had previously talked about Wendt’s impact and also led a tribute to the actor during Big Slick’s celebrity softball game Friday, May 30, before the Royals’ game.
“Big ups to the one and only George Wendt, who couldn’t be with us this year, but good lord, is he not?” Sudeikis said, holding back tears.
