Kunal Tanna 

Activity after activity never worked for Kunal Tanna throughout his childhood, though he gave plenty a shot in search of both enjoyment and as treatment for his mild cerebral palsy.

Baseball, basketball, soccer, dance — none lasted.

“They were all a struggle with my disability,” the 2012 Mountain View grad said.

Tanna found the ideal fit athletically during his freshman year of high school at Collins Hill, where he attended before Mountain View opened his sophomore year. While scrolling through YouTube videos late one night, he learned about one of Collins Hill’s most famous grads, Kyle Maynard, a renowned author and motivational speaker.

Despite being born with partial arms and legs, Maynard was a high school wrestler at Collins Hill. Tanna saw Maynard as a positive example — if he can wrestle with his condition, so can I — and what happened next was a life-changing decision.

“I saw Coach (Jim) Gassman had a little clip on YouTube of Kyle Maynard and how he coached him and never gave up on him,” Tanna said. “I knew (Gassman) was at Collins Hill and I told him I wanted to wrestle for him because of everything he did for Kyle.”

Tanna’s limitations involved diminished motor skills and weakness on his left side, particularly in his arm and hand, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him.

“After I knew I was going to be the head coach at Mountain View (for Tanna’s sophomore year) and I was still at Collins Hill, I remember Kunal running down the hallway,” Gassman said. “I didn’t know him. He wasn’t on the wrestling team as a freshman at Collins Hill and I didn’t teach him or anything. He knew I was going to Mountain View and he said he was going to wrestle for me next year.”

A summer wrestling camp offered a brief introduction to wrestling, then Tanna attacked the sport with vigor. Victories were few and far between during his three high school seasons at Mountain View — he was often overmatched because of his health issues — but success wasn’t measured by his win-loss record. Each match and each day brought increased movement, strength and confidence, the latter trait playing a pivotal role in adulthood as Tanna rose to his current position as assistant to the general manager and pro scout for the Kansas City Chiefs.

For his success in wrestling and beyond, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Georgia Chapter will recognize Tanna in May with its prestigious Medal of Courage award, also won in the past by Maynard.

“If you were to see him now, you wouldn’t realize where he was physically before,” said Gassman, now coaching at Jackson County. “It’s very subtle what you see now. Some people might not even realize (he deals with cerebral palsy). One of his arms didn’t work well. He had a hard time opening his hand and bending his arm. He didn’t walk correctly. Physically, he was not in a good position. But he got into wrestling and wrestling was a lot of rehab for his body.

“It’s pretty amazing what he’s been able to do. During high school, it was a challenging time, but he just made the best of it. It’s one of those great situations with teenagers where they see obstacles and they overcome them. And he has continued to excel.”

Not exactly brimming with confidence, Tanna saw a major spike when he joined the wrestling team. He became a beloved member of the program and within his brand-new high school, earning recognition as Mr. Mountain View, while the physical rigors of wrestling helped his motor skills in numerous ways, including the forced use of his weak left hand.

“I really think Coach Gassman, the coaching staff, Coach (Randy) Bortles (also a Medal of Courage winner) never let me take no for an answer,” Tanna said. “They always pushed me and never let me use my left hand as an excuse. … Wrestling was a home, a community and a family. Growing up with a disability, you get picked on some. They did a good job of making me feel loved, not left alone. All the wrestlers pushed me to constantly get better. That was something I never had with therapy. With therapy, you’re always doing it by yourself. Now having 30, 40 dudes your age who are pretty physically fit to push you, it really motivated me and kept me going.”

While at Mountain View, his regular training partner was Jay Hennebaul, which gave longtime Georgia wrestling administrator Bud Hennebaul (Jay’s father) a front-row seat for Tanna’s journey.

“It’s hard to put into words how proud we are of Kunal,” Hennebaul said. “When I found out the (2024) NCAA Wrestling Championships were going to be in Kansas City, it made me feel good knowing there would be a chance that I and the rest of our group would get to see him. When I was in Kansas City for our first site visit, I sent him a text to see if there was a chance I would get to see him. When he responded saying he was in training camp and he was putting in long hours, I felt I would have to wait until our second visit. Kunal made a more than hour trip back into the city from training camp after he was finished with his work just to sit in the lobby and talk. He is as good a human being as I have ever met. I love him and am proud of him for how far he has come.”

The lessons learned at Mountain View, specifically in the wrestling room, have carried Tanna to great heights to professionally.

After Mountain View, Tanna earned the Gates Millennium Scholarship and attended the University of Georgia, where he landed a unique opportunity in an unfamiliar sport. The public relations major, through a connection he made at school, applied for an opportunity with new head coach Kirby Smart’s football program.

He had no football experience, but he had the drive and didn’t mind doing less than glamorous jobs.

“It was January 2015, they called on MLK Day and I went up to Athens, they needed someone for the graveyard shift to cut up high school film off HUDL late at night,” Tanna said. “I started doing that. One of the coaches asked for a student assistant to get smoothies in the morning. I was 20 and I wanted to learn and do whatever I could, so I did that. I never played football, but I started learning football and helping out with some special teams projects and got more involved.

“Every coach had a recruiting assistant and I ended up starting that 2015 season at the beginning of that season, working with Kevin Sherrer, the outside linebackers coach (now defensive coordinator at Georgia State). I did all his recruiting. I typed up a lot of notes and watched film with him on recruiting stuff. I learned a lot.”

Tanna continued work with the Bulldogs through February 2017 when he accepted an internship offer with the Chiefs, leaving Georgia three days after National Signing Day wrapped up. As he did in Athens, he climbed through the ranks in Kansas City behind his willingness to work and what Gassman said is his great attitude, attacking each moment with a smile.

The Chiefs hired him for a full-time position in player engagement as a football support liaison after the 2017 season, and he took on various roles in the ensuing years while working with coaches, scouts, executives and general manager Brett Veach. In 2020, he was promoted to be Veach’s assistant. In addition to that role, he added pro scout duties last year to help the Chiefs break down future opponents.

“I’m very, very thankful to be able to do everything I’ve done,” Tanna said. “I never played football. I never thought I’d be where I am today. It seriously feels like a dream. Brett Veach is the greatest boss ever. I can’t even put it into words. Nothing has been given. I never played the game, but I do feel like I worked very hard to get to this position. Now every day feels like a dream.”

While some of his duties are labor-intensive, others are fun. He is in charge of the music for practices, and Chiefs’ players call him as “DJ Yes Yes.”

“It’s my sixth season doing (the practice music),” Tanna said. “I go down to the locker room every day before practice, and go to a couple different groups. The offensive line will give me three songs one day. The DBs give me one or two songs. Then I’ve done it long enough to know what guys like. The D-line always gives great suggestions, too.”

The job means working alongside Chiefs legends like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

“They’re all amazing, all great humans, a great locker room,” Tanna said. “Everyone in that locker room is special in their own way.”

Tanna also gets asked regularly if he has met Kelce’s famous girlfriend, singer Taylor Swift.

“I did meet her briefly. Maybe meeting isn’t the correct word. I stood next to her at a Super Bowl after party,” Tanna laughed.

For all his work in Kansas City, Tanna has some tangible rewards, too, in the form of three Super Bowl rings following the 2020, 2023 and 2024 NFL seasons. He keeps them in a safe deposit box at a Gwinnett bank, pulling them out only when necessary.

“I hear too many stories of people getting (the rings) stolen,” the 30-year-old said. “It’s tough to wear them out. They’re so big. You can’t hide them.”

Tanna and the Chiefs begin work on another Super Bowl championship with this weekend’s AFC Playoff opener against the Texans. When the season finishes, Tanna assists with college prospect visits and interviews, free agent visits and other duties assigned to him by Veach. Sparked by his wrestling experience, Tanna works out regularly and enjoys pickleball.

His high school friends are jealous of his dream job, and his high school coaches are thrilled with how much he has grown since he showed up to wrestle as a sophomore.

“I’m just extremely proud of him,” Gassman said. “He an example I can use for others who may feel they can’t do certain things. This guy was able to do it despite his physical limitations. He never even played football and here he is working for the best football team in America. A big part of that is his desire to succeed and a big part of that is having a gracious, humble, friendly attitude. There are people who have more connections in football and know more about football, but I think a lot of that has to do with his character. Character prevails over all that.”