Patrick Mahomes shrugs off ‘beer gut’ barbs in quest for third Super Bowl
TTwo weeks ago, after dispatching the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs gathered in the visitors’ locker room at M&T Bank Stadium to celebrate their return trip to the Super Bowl. In the middle of the noise was a shirtless Patrick Mahomes, still facing forward. “Like I said, we’re not done yet,” he roared.
But then images of his battle cry took it to social media, the focus quickly shifted from his words of encouragement to his much less defined torso. It wasn’t long before his #dadbod made its way to the NFL feed .
This is despite the Chiefs passer appearing in the Netflix docuseries Quarterback, which focuses heavily on Mahomes’ unyielding training regimen. Mahomes coolly absorbed the critical blitz. “Yooooo why do they have to do me like that!?!?!?” he tweeted in response. “Like, I have kids!!!”
In Mahomes’ defense, Incredible Hulks rarely provide quality passing material. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were also shamed for their modest physiques. What’s impressive about Mahomes is how his early body of work compares to those legends.
Since taking over as Chiefs starter in his second NFL season, Mahomes has led them to the Super Bowl in four of the last five years. At worst, he fell short just twice in the conference title game. Through 17 career playoff games, Mahomes has already amassed so many passing yards (5,260) and total touchdowns (44) that, if collected over 17 regular season games, his stats would surpass every QB except Brees, Manning and Brady. No wonder Mahomes has been voted the league’s MVP twice.
On Sunday, the Chiefs have a chance to become the first team in two decades to win back-to-back Super Bowls. And Mahomes is the reason why Chiefs fans are optimistic about their chances of completing the deal, despite their team starting out as slight underdogs to the San Francisco 49ers. “I don’t think I could have ever anticipated what would happen at the beginning of my career,” Mahomes said Monday in Las Vegas, calling his Super Bowl streak surreal. “I try to appreciate it every time. You don’t even know if this will be your last.
Mahomes makes it tempting to compel comparisons to Michael Jordan, even if the metaphor is destined to fall short. While the NBA star had to endure years of setbacks before his dynastic breakthrough, the golden arm of the Chiefs under coach Andy Reid experienced virtually nothing but success.
Mahomes’ ability to transcend the applied logic of the game with his physical gifts, talent for improvisation and knack for delivering results has marked him as the potential one-in-a-generation wonder that transcends his sport. The only blemish on his resume is to Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Super Bowl on home soil, and even that loss had more to do with the Chiefs’ inability to protect Mahomes or catch his passes than his continued effort.
Moreover, this is a year in which Mahomes did more with less reliable offensive weapons than Travis Kelce, while relying on a Chiefs defense that has set a new franchise standard under the leadership of crafty coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Still, Mahomes and his team are in for a tough night against the 49ers, the opponents he had to beat for his first championship ring four years ago.
As always, the 49ers will look to frustrate Mahomes with a formidable defense anchored by linebacker Fred Warner and defensive end Nick Bosa. On the other hand, San Francisco’s offense is much better than the one that stopped the Chiefs in 2020. Not only are the Niners transferring many of the key players who played a role in that first game, they’ve added Christian McCaffrey, the sport’s all-time greatest. -run back around. How far they go will ultimately depend on whether Niners quarterback Brock Purdy can keep his own strong hand going.
Like Mahomes, Purdy fails the eye test, so much so that he was the very last pick in the 2022 draft. And yet he played so well in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo that Niners coach Kyle Shanahan ultimately gave him the keys to the franchise. While Purdy has yet to disappoint in big moments and played at an MVP level this year, his critics are still trying to pick apart his game because of Purdy’s low positioning. If San Francisco were to retaliate, Purdy would likely be the last 49er to get the honor.
Should Mahomes lead the Chiefs to Super Bowl victory again, three championships, the last two in a row, would put him in a rarefied league alongside Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and Troy Aikman. And even if Mahomes only had three rings, the Jordan comparisons won’t end there. Mahomes can easily be rated as the NFL’s best player and Brady, seven-time champion, reclassified as the ultimate winner: American football’s Bill Russell, the Boston Celtics legend who claimed eleven NBA championships. At 28, Mahomes could just as easily catch up or even overtake Brady.
Earlier this week in host city Las Vegas, Mahomes once again made it clear what is most important. One reporter asked: Would he rather have six-pack abs or another ring? “No, definitely another Super Bowl,” he said. “I have a six-pack, it’s just below the father’s body. If you feel, there may be some skin, but underneath that is the six pack. You just have to get really close and squint a bit. I guess you’ll see.”