The Legend of Mahomes is upon us.
Since usurping Alex Smith to become the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the 2018 NFL season, Patrick Mahomes has had an unbelievable start to his career. He won MVP in 2018 as the Chiefs made it to the AFC Championship Game before losing to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in overtime.
The following year, Mahomes won Super Bowl MVP after he led the Chiefs to their first championship since 1970 - ending a 50-year title drought. He returned to the Super Bowl last season, but was soundly defeated by Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite his individual efforts. Now, for the fourth straight year as a starter, Mahomes is in the conference championship game.
It has been a remarkable run. Sure, he has an offensive mind in Andy Reid calling the shots along with perhaps the greatest receiving tight end weapon in Travis Kelce as a weapon, along with speedster Tyreek Hill - but the sheer ability Mahomes possesses is mind-boggling. He can do things with a pigskin most quarterbacks dream of, and the 26-year-old does it with consummate ease.
Perhaps it is because sport is such a seamless theme of Mahomes' life. His high school sweetheart-turned-wife Brittany Matthews embarked on a brief professional soccer career in Iceland before becoming a personal trainer and co-owner of Kansas City Current. The son of former MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes, Mahomes initially played both football and baseball at Texas Tech University, but he opted to quit baseball to focus on the gridiron game following his sophomore year. It would prove to be a wise decision: his baseball style means he can angle his arm in certain ways, almost patenting the sideways throw as a trademark play.
In his MVP season of 2018, Mahomes threw for 5,097 yards, 50 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, becoming the only quarterback in history to throw for over 5,000 yards in a single season in both college and the NFL. Mahomes and Peyton Manning - a five-time MVP - are the only two players in league history to pass over over 5,000 yards and for 50 touchdowns in the same season.
Mahomes has been named to the Pro Bowl each of the four years he was a starter, and he ensured that all of the accolades and accomplishments in his short but sensational career were worth it shortly after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in 2020. Mahomes signed a record 10-year contract extension worth $477 million, with another $26m in bonuses that could see it rise to $503m - the largest contract in American sports.
After such an incredible career already, the question has been asked: can Mahomes become one of the all-time NFL greats?
“Well, it’s all about what he does,” former cornerback Jason Bell declared. “He’s got to win another championship, right? He can’t just be close to be considered one of the greatest.
“I mean, the reason we talk about Tom Brady as the greatest of all time is because he wins when it’s on the line in the biggest games. We’re going to have to see Mahomes come away with more Super Bowls because we talk about Aaron Rodgers being one of the most athletic quarterbacks, but we don’t talk about him as one of the greatest because he hasn’t won enough Super Bowls.
“It’s the same with Mahomes, and now he’s got a problem to deal with in Josh Allen every year. It’s all about championships for him.”
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills were certainly an obstacle that the Chiefs battled tooth and nail to barely overcome. Mahomes countered Allen at every opportunity, even when there was 13 seconds on the clock, as he finished one of the NFL’s greatest ever games with 378 passing yards and three touchdowns to lead Kansas City to a 42-36 overtime win. Seemingly in awe of his quarterback’s ability to pull a result out of the bag, Reid labelled Mahomes ‘The Grim Reaper’.
Mahomes is looking to reach a third Super Bowl in a row and potentially add a second ring to his rapidly growing collection. The Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Joe Burrow stand in his way for now, but they seem to be the perfect opponent for Sunday’s AFC title showcase.
With the ninth pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Bengals took receiver John Ross. One pick later, Mahomes landed in Kansas City - and the Legend of Mahomes was born.
Watch Jason Bell and Osi Umenyiora on the BBC NFL Show, Friday at Midnight on BBC One. For more NFL action, tune into NFL Gamepass and Sky Sports NFL this Sunday 30 January to catch the Conference Championships. Bengals vs. Chiefs at 8PM and 49ers vs. Rams at 11:30pm.
