STATELINE, Nev. \u2014 I\u2019ve decided to take on photography as my midlife crisis hobby. It\u2019s either that or run a marathon, but I have bad knees and lower back pain \u2026 or I\u2019m just out of shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the positive side, I\u2019m a recent first-time father, so my dad strength is starting to show itself, which came in handy Wednesday during the first practice round of the American Century Championship, an annual celebrity golf tournament.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was tasked with following active and former NFL players around the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course\u2014and I couldn\u2019t resist the urge of stalking NBA star Stephen Curry for a few holes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Talking to NFL players is nothing new to me, but this time I was sporting a green photographer\u2019s vest and walked around with a bulky camera that wasn\u2019t on my iPhone. I don\u2019t know much about photography and most of my photos were taken on auto focus, and I also don\u2019t know much about golf. This seemed like the right time to practice my hobby while doing my day job.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sights and sounds from Day 1 of @ACChampionship<\/a> in Lake Tahoe #accgolf<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WaJ3X9RjLd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gilberto Manzano (@GManzano24) July 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019m proud to say I didn\u2019t get in anyone\u2019s way and the clicking noise on my camera didn\u2019t go off as participants teed off. (I still need to learn how to turn off the sound on the clicker.)\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m also happy to say I didn\u2019t annoy Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, who had a confused look after a photographer told him he\u2019s an Ohio State fan. The photographer followed by saying he\u2019s also a Browns fan, but that didn\u2019t do him any favors.<\/p>\n Mayfield was nice enough to have a walk-and-chat with me. I tried my best to control my breathing in between questions. I don\u2019t know how I did it, but I walked 20,000 steps Wednesday, according to my cell phone. Maybe I will attempt to run a marathon for my 40th birthday in a few years.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else I saw and heard from Lake Tahoe.<\/p>\n Mayfield aiming for top 50<\/p>\n Mayfield is a modest man on the golf course.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019s coming off a career season in the NFL, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns, but that didn\u2019t lead him to aiming too high for this year\u2019s American Century Championship. Mayfield couldn\u2019t quite remember what his score was last year, but he\u2019s hoping to improve nonetheless.<\/p>\n Walk and chat with Baker Mayfield pic.twitter.com\/JrzBbA1gaA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gilberto Manzano (@GManzano24) July 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cShooting for top 50, hopefully top 40,\u201d Mayfield said. \u201cRealistic goal, top 50.\u201d<\/p>\n Peterson embraces practice round<\/p>\n My poor golf knowledge didn\u2019t do me any favors when talking to future Hall of Fame cornerback Patrick Peterson, the former longtime standout of the Arizona Cardinals. I asked Peterson for a breakdown of his swing off the tee from hole No. 14, but apparently the ball went into the water. Great timing by me.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just practice\u201d \u2014 Patrick Peterson \ud83d\ude02 pic.twitter.com\/9EmyPDSvNl<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gilberto Manzano (@GManzano24) July 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a nice little draw,\u201d Peterson says. \u201cMaybe hit it a little too far. Maybe it got into the water, but it\u2019s a practice round.\u201d<\/p>\n Fun fact: Peterson was the first NFL player I interviewed Wednesday, just like in 2023 during my first year covering the American Century Championship.<\/p>\n Strange Fitzpatrick sequence\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure what happened, but I caught former quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick taking a golf ball out of his drink. Maybe that\u2019s something golfers do for strategy, dipping balls into a Bloody Mary. Or someone hit the ball into his drink, who knows.<\/p>\n Regardless of what happened, Fitzpatrick, who played for nine teams, gave me a great answer for the best rivalry currently in the NFL.<\/p>\n Ryan Fitzpatrick says Chiefs-Bills best rivalry in the NFL right now pic.twitter.com\/cLSQY9jxE6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gilberto Manzano (@GManzano24) July 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I played in a lot of them [rivalries],\u201d Fitzpatrick says with a smile. \u201cI\u2019m going to go Bills and Chiefs right now. I think that\u2019s the greatest NFL rivalry. You\u2019ve got two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. They seem to meet in the playoffs every single year. The Bills gotta get one soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A few minutes later, Fitzpatrick smashed a golf ball down the fairway. I know that was a good swing because the A.I. machine on hole 14 said that was the best hit of the day at the time, and it was well past noon. I guess dipping golf balls into beverages works.\u00a0<\/p>\n Searching for Rodgers, Allen<\/p>\n There were many Josh Allen Bills jerseys and a few Aaron Rodgers Steelers jerseys, which was strange to see. But I didn\u2019t spot the two quarterbacks on the golf course Wednesday. Maybe I\u2019ll get a few shots of them for the second day of practice on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Strange to see an Aaron Rodgers Steelers jersey in the wild pic.twitter.com\/ZVz1TbNFru<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gilberto Manzano (@GManzano24) July 9, 2025<\/a>More NFL on Sports Illustrated