He traded med school for a shot at the NFL. Now, he’ll start for Chiefs in Super Bowl

Mike Caliendo couldn’t bring himself to go into the Kansas City Chiefs facility, so he sat in his KC apartment instead.

It was Aug. 29, 2023 — the NFL’s roster cutdown day — and Caliendo spent each minute in agony.

Was his phone going to ring?

After a year on the Chiefs’ practice squad, the offensive lineman set a lofty aim: to make the team’s initial 53-man roster as a previously undrafted player.

It led to a painful hour of waiting — and wondering whether the Chiefs were about to call him with bad news.

Caliendo made it to 2:58 p.m. ... then 2:59 ... and finally, the 3 o’clock deadline.

No ring from the Chiefs. He’d officially made the team.

“I definitely started crying,” Caliendo told The Star at Super Bowl LIX’s Opening Night at Caesars Superdome. “It was a huge goal of mine, and a dream realized for sure.”

Providing some assurance, as well, that he’d made the right choice a year earlier.

Caliendo, who will start at left guard for the Chiefs in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, nearly didn’t become a pro football player at all. He played six years at Western Michigan, finishing with a master’s degree in biological sciences before keeping multiple paths open in early 2022.

At his agent Nate Richman’s request, Caliendo moved to a studio apartment in Boston to train for the 2022 NFL Draft.

But he also had a backup plan. Caliendo applied to medical schools, including the one his grandfather attended: Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. He went through a multiple-hour interview process with that school — suit and tie and all — in his Boston studio, looking to remain flexible in case the NFL didn’t become an option.

“It was definitely a lot,” Caliendo said with a laugh. “I may have bit off more than I could chew.”

The Chiefs soon made his decision easy.

Richman received a call from the Chiefs just after the draft ended, extending an offer to Caliendo as an undrafted free agent.

Caliendo told Richman not to take any more phone calls.

“As soon as I heard it was the Chiefs,” Caliendo said, “I was like, ‘We gotta go there.’”

A college teammate of Chiefs receiver Skyy Moore, Caliendo was waived his first season before re-signing with KC’s practice squad. After making the team as a backup in 2023, his role expanded this year following left guard Joe Thuney’s late-season transition from guard to tackle.

That required Caliendo to step in at left guard, where he’s played five consecutive games with the team’s starters. He’ll also be an offensive mainstay for Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup after only playing special teams in KC’s Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers last season.

“Opportunities like this, they don’t come often,” Caliendo said. “But I think God has a plan for all of us, and this opportunity is a great one.”

Caliendo’s last few weeks, he said, have gone better because of his teammates. Some of the team’s biggest stars — like tight end Travis Kelce — have encouraged him while communicating that they trust in him.

“All I want to do is just give everything I have for the guys next to me, for this team, to be honest,” Caliendo said. “And try to get one more here.”

His other passion remains a secondary part of his life ... while still on his mind often.

The 27-year-old Caliendo says he’s recently been reading “Sapiens,” a book about human history. He also chats with the team’s trainers when getting treatment, wanting to know what they think about various topics.

If not for football, Caliendo envisioned someday he might work in sports medicine.

So could that still be part of his future?

“Going back to med school seems like a lot after doing all this,” Caliendo said with a smile. “But we’ll just continue to pray and see where God wants us to go.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 9:40 AM.

Jesse Newell

The Kansas City Star

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Jesse Newell covered the Chiefs for The Star until August 2025. He won an EPPY for best sports blog and previously was named top beat writer in his circulation by AP’s Sports Editors. His interest in sports analytics comes from his math teacher father, who handed out rulers to Trick-or-Treaters each year.