(610 Sports) – It might be football season and the Chiefs might be playing winning football in December, but something really important just happened in baseball. On Sunday evening the Hall of Fame announced that Negro League legends Buck O'Neil and Bud Fowler had been voted into Cooperstown.
O'Neil, the founder of the Negro League Hall of Fame and one of the most iconic figures in the history of baseball, passed in 2006 at the age of 94.
As he does every Monday during the NFL season, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes joined 610 Sports The Drive and weighed in on the news of O'Neil's upcoming induction into Cooperstown and the impact the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum has had on himself, as an athlete of color.
"Yeah, I mean first off it was overdue," said Mahomes. "The impact that he made on baseball, in general, especially African Americans being in baseball and being in MLB and everything like that, it was a special moment and should have happened a long time ago."
"Being at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and being able to see all the history that was made in that league that you wouldn't even know if it weren't for that museum, it's special," said Mahomes. " My dad, he used to mimic Satchel Paige and he would tell me stories about all these baseball players that kind of made it happen. For me to see that up close and personal and it being in my city, in Kansas City, it's something special that you gotta continue to shed light on."
Mahomes' father, Pat Mahomes, pitched in MLB for 6 teams over an 11 year career.
"The times that I've been, I don't know if there's a place that maybe tells the story of civil rights in this country and sort of how it intersects with sports, better than the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum," said show host Carrington Harrison.
"Yeah, 100% and it doesn't just effect baseball," said Mahomes. "I mean, that's the biggest thing. Those guys like Jackie Robinson that broke the color barrier, I mean, that effects me being able to play in the NFL, today."
Listen to the rest of our interview with Patrick Mahomes in the player below: