A personal connection with the Cowboys started with a tweet. After wide receiver Allen Hurns signed with Dallas two years ago, he posted that he was looking for a personal chef in the Frisco, Texas area.

Manwell McLean responded with photos of a few meals he had prepared and a picture of Deion Sanders eating at a table.

I’m ya man! #ChefHoppieSZN pic.twitter.com/srQ6PlDTM3

— Chef Hoppie (@ManwellHoppie) June 19, 2018

Little did McLean know at the time, but he was about to cook not only for Hurns but build relationships with over half of the Cowboys’ current roster. Now he’s the personal chef for star players Ezekiel Elliott and CeeDee Lamb.

McLean, 23, started cooking when he was 10 years old. His mother was working so much that she couldn’t get around to making her 7-Up pound cake, so he decided to give it a try. That led to him making other cakes, cupcakes and cookies, which he would then bring to church, school and football practices.

McLean’s talent was noticed by Sanders in 2008 while he was playing for Sanders’ Truth Select youth football team. The Pro Football Hall of Famer was such a fan that he often hired McLean to make desserts for large dinners Sanders hosted. Culinary school followed, along with becoming a chef for a few years at AT&T Stadium while also working at various local restaurants. Four years ago, Sanders hired McLean to be his full-time chef, a job he holds to this day.

Cooking for Hurns led to McLean occasionally doing the same for other Cowboys players. He met Elliott while exiting AT&T Stadium after a game in Oct. 2018. They crossed paths a few more times before McLean eventually cooked at a birthday party Elliott was hosting at his home.

“All I need to do is get my food in front of you,” McLean recently told The Athletic. And that’s all that was needed to convince Elliott.

McLean, who grew up in Hurst and now lives in Cedar Hill, got the nickname “Hoppie” from a youth football coach after he was hopping around during a practice drill while trying to play through a fractured ankle. The name stuck. Eventually, he tacked “Chef” in front to create his brand name.

During an NFL Network interview following the Cowboys’ 44-21 win over the Los Angeles Rams last December, Sanders thanked Elliott for giving McLean the opportunity to be his personal chef.

“Chef Hoppie, shout out to him,” Elliott responded with a smile. “He’s definitely the best chef in Dallas. He makes it work for me.”

McLean was in Elliott’s AT&T Stadium suite when the video call took place. When Elliott arrived at the suite, he told McLean he just finished talking about him with Sanders. McLean didn’t think it was on live TV.

“A friend sent (the video clip) to me, and I was like, ‘Wow,’” McLean said. “It was surreal just to think about how much love they were showing without being asked to do so.”

McLean cooks for Elliott once a week. He also puts together meal prep containers so Elliott has food throughout the week. This has led to the two of them starting a food prep company scheduled to open for business in January. The goal is to ship within Texas and eventually across the country.

“I was like, ‘We have the perfect brand,’” McLean told Elliott. “Not only from a football and chef standpoint, but even his slogan is ‘Stay Hungry,’ and my slogan is ‘You Got To Be Hungry.’ Whenever people think about ‘Feeding Zeke,’ of course there’s football, but now if he does something on the football field, they’re tweeting me.

“When I post pictures of his meal preps, people are asking what amounts of food and what is this that I use, so they can actually eat like Zeke. It’s kind of surreal.”

What does Zeke like to eat?

“Normally our go-to meal is mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, asparagus, oxtails and fried chicken,” McLean said.

You eat…. I eat !!! 😈😤@EzekielElliott pic.twitter.com/nzNAYYQhIb

— Chef Hoppie (@ManwellHoppie) December 16, 2019

Different players are looking for different meals, depending on their goals. For example, Elliott wants a high-protein diet. Lamb, meanwhile, is looking to gain weight.

“It depends on the player,” McLean said. “But a lot of times, the way I cook naturally is something that’s form-fitting to the people that are trying to be healthy and active.”

Lamb is a big fan of seafood, particularly McLean’s signature steak-wrapped shrimp, crab legs, catfish or jambalaya. McLean recently posted a photo of some No. 88 signature loaded pancakes that he made for the Cowboys’ rookie wide receiver.

Go Crazy 8️⃣8️⃣ !

L A M B 🔥T A L K🗣 @_CeeDeeThree pic.twitter.com/9lTe1W8A3a

— Chef Hoppie (@ManwellHoppie) September 24, 2020

“He has quite a few (meals), so I don’t really have a go-to,” Lamb said. “But he adds some extra pounds on me. It’s all the little things on and off the field. I’m just preparing my craft and being able to play at a high level at any given time, if you will. My chef does a great job keeping me prepared every day, week in and week out.”

McLean’s working relationship has led to him becoming friends with several players, and that has changed how he watches games on Sunday. Instead of going to a bar or restaurant, he prefers to watch from home with only close friends.

“I have to watch it differently because I have relationships with them, and Cowboys fans like to switch up quick as soon as something happens and the game isn’t going their way,” he said. “So it will make me mad just because I have a personal relationship more than just a fan of the team.”

McLean’s current schedule includes cooking lunch and dinner for Sanders and Lamb Monday through Friday, and Elliott on Fridays. Thursdays, meanwhile, are “Fried Chicken Thursdays,” for which he brings about 250 pieces of chicken and sides like baked beans, lobster mac and cheese and dirty rice to The Star for the Cowboys’ linebackers and defensive linemen to eat between practice and meetings.

Fried Chicken Thursdays! Wk2@AntwaunWoods_ @Bubba_March @TankLawrence pic.twitter.com/m69AZ4dmxG

— Chef Hoppie (@ManwellHoppie) September 12, 2019

“It’s still surprising sometimes when I think back like, ‘Wow, I’m actually cooking for Prime, CeeDee and Zeke all in one day,’” McLean said. “Just to think that I cooked for people with that much power and exposure and credibility in one day, it’s kind of shocking.

“I try to stay humble and not think about things too much and just go with the flow. But there are days that I sit back and relish in it for a little bit.”

(Top photo courtesy of Manwell McLean)