(610 Sports) -- Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt says he would be lying if implied that he knew Patrick Mahomes would have a league MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and be on his way to his second Super Bowl, in his first 4 years. According to Hunt, everyone in the Chiefs' front office thought that Mahomes was gonna take some time to develop.
While the Chiefs coveted the quarterback out of Texas Tech enough to trade up from the 27th pick to the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, they expected he would need time to adjust to an NFL system.
Having a viable NFL starting quarterback in Alex Smith already on the roster, the Chiefs had the luxury of letting Mahomes learn behind Smith for a few years. That line of thinking quickly changed, as Mahomes impressed coaches and teammates from the onset with his work ethic and preparation.
Mahomes impressed so much in practice and limited action that first year, that the Chiefs decided to trade Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins for CB Kendall Fuller and a third-round draft pick, ensuring Mahomes would be their starter in his second season.
What happened next, nobody could have predicted, a career arc that very few athletes have ever seen. The first that comes to mind, of course, would be Michael Jordan.
Clark Hunt, when asked about the comparison and how crazy it is to think that when you look at what Patrick Mahomes has accomplished so far in his career, that he could possibly have "Michael Jordan" on his football team, shared his thoughts on Mahomes.
"Yeah, it's amazing the success that Patrick has had so early in his career. I mean really more so than Michael Jordan had early in his career. It took Michael a few years before he won his first championship and Patrick, in year one, had us on the cusp of making the Super Bowl, and unfortunately, the Patriots didn't let it happen that year. We're just blessed to have him and it's gonna be a fun 10-plus year career for Patrick in Kansas City," Hunt said.
"I think that everyone thought that Patrick was gonna take some time to develop, of course he's turned the table on all of that, he's shown to be one of the best ever to play the position, only 4 years into his young career."