Death, taxes, and Patrick Mahomes coming through in the clutch. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback led his team to a third Super Bowl championship in five years on Sunday night while picking up his third Super Bowl MVP award in the process.
Danny Parkins of the Audacy original podcast “1st & Pod” explained how unprecedented what Mahomes is doing not only in football but across all sports.
“This feeling – and it was referenced on the broadcast –, it is Michael Jordan. When you’re talking about the like jersey over my shoulder. Chiefs fans being able to have a routine for Super Bowl week because they know that they’re going to be there,” Parkins said (29:15 in player above). “Mahomes referencing ‘We’re just going to stick to our normal Super Bowl routine’ in terms of gameplan install and travel and practice and media attention.”
It’s not just the Chiefs being comfortable in their routines, but the knowledge that they have Mahomes on their side.
“Being down double digits again and not panicking because you have 15. Seeing him run onto the field in those spots and it not even being a question that he’s calm,” said Parkins. “Maybe they won’t get it done, whatever, but like, he’s not shook by the moment. It’s not even a question.
Mahomes is one of the rare athletes across all sports that has that about him.
“It’s like Yankees fans with Mariano Rivera, Bulls fans with Jordan. There are so few fanbases in any sport that can actually know what that feeling is like,” Parkins continued. “It’s a completely unprecedented feeling, I think, for an NFL fanbase is what Chiefs fans are going through right now.”
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the Chiefs’ success with Mahomes is his age. In six full seasons, Mahomes already has two MVP awards, three Super Bowl championships, and three Super Bowl MVPs as well. He doesn’t turn 29 until September.
Mahomes isn’t just winning Super Bowls; he’s the reason the Chiefs are winning them.
“To have that for a 28-year-old quarterback in the era where it’s possible to play quarterback into your 40s, I can’t imagine – even Patriots fans didn’t have that with Brady when he was 28,” Parkins said. “That aged with him, he was not carrying them with these types of passing productions and MVPs for the early Super Bowls.”
Mahomes threw for 333 yards on 34 of 46 passing with two touchdowns and one interception. He also had 66 rushing yards on nine carries, including a crucial conversion on a fourth down in overtime.