Up to date at 5:15 p.m. ET on February 17, 2024
This wasn’t imagined to be Patrick Mahomes’s 12 months—that’s the scary half.
There have been loads of occasions this season when the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and their star quarterback regarded weak, together with a stretch after they misplaced 4 out of six video games. But the top outcome was the identical because it was final season: Mahomes gained one other Tremendous Bowl, and notched one other Tremendous Bowl MVP, and now the remainder of the soccer world is caught with the gloomy actuality that for the foreseeable future, any path to the Tremendous Bowl means upending a generational participant who’s on a collision course to be the best quarterback in NFL historical past.
When you’re questioning how a 28-year-old is being talked about in a greatest-ever dialog, take into account how this most up-to-date Tremendous Bowl win suits in with the remainder of Mahomes’s profession. In simply seven NFL seasons, he has gained three Tremendous Bowls, three Tremendous Bowl MVPs, and two league MVPs, and he’s a six-time Professional Bowl honoree.
On the floor, this hypothesis might sound disrespectful to Tom Brady, an NFL-record seven-time Tremendous Bowl winner who retired final February. Brady is taken into account to be the best quarterback ever, having made 10 Tremendous Bowl appearances, additionally an NFL file. He spearheaded the New England Patriots dynasty by successful six Tremendous Bowls throughout his 20 seasons with the franchise, then gained his closing championship with Tampa Bay at 43 years previous.
However Mahomes is a extra elite expertise than Brady was at this stage in his profession. Brady and Mahomes every gained their first Tremendous Bowl after they had been 24, and Brady gained his third championship when he was 27. However Mahomes stands alone because the youngest participant ever to win league MVP and Tremendous Bowl MVP in the identical season. Mahomes additionally already has extra passing yards and touchdowns than Brady did in his 20s. Mahomes has two extra MVPs and 6 extra Professional Bowl honors than Brady had on the similar interval in his place.
“Yeah, I hear it,” Mahomes mentioned of the Brady comparisons following the Chiefs’ win over the 49ers. “To me, it’s at all times going to be robust, as a result of Brady beat me within the Tremendous Bowl.”
Brady being 2–0 towards Mahomes within the playoffs is commonly used because the counterargument to inserting Mahomes in the identical dialog as Brady, or the explanation some imagine Mahomes can by no means eclipse Brady.
However even Brady understood early on that Mahomes was going to be the one competing towards his legacy. Within the 2019 AFC championship recreation, the Chiefs misplaced in extra time to Brady, who was then the quarterback for the New England Patriots. Mahomes was spectacular, passing for 295 yards and three touchdowns whereas serving to his crew erase a 14-point halftime deficit. Though Mahomes completed that recreation with a better passer ranking than Brady, the Patriots gained as a result of they had been higher when it mattered most. However that win didn’t forestall Brady from passing the torch to Mahomes.
“I used to be there when Tom Brady mentioned I’m turning the keys over to you,” the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid, shared with reporters after final Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl. “He did it proper in our locker room. And so I feel Tom is as proud as anyone.”
Brady beat Mahomes 31–9 in Tremendous Bowl 55 as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, however that doesn’t disqualify Mahomes from the greatest-ever dialog. Nor does it imply that Mahomes has to look in or win extra Tremendous Bowls than Brady to high the quarterback listing. Michael Jordan didn’t have to match or surpass Invoice Russell’s 11 NBA championships to be the best professional basketball participant ever. It appears unlikely that four-time NBA champion LeBron James will equal Jordan’s six NBA championships earlier than his profession ends, and but loads of individuals proper now imagine that James is healthier than Jordan. Serena Williams stands as the best feminine tennis participant in historical past, although she completed her profession one shy of Margaret Court docket’s file 24 main singles titles.
In fact, accomplishments, championships, and titles matter in contemplating greatness. The championships simply aren’t the one issue. Mahomes has the identical uncommon capability as Brady and different sport greats in terms of performing brilliantly underneath intense strain throughout shut video games. And identical to with Brady, Jordan, and Williams, the sense is that Mahomes goes to forestall a variety of different nice gamers in his technology from successful championships.
When processing Mahomes’s legacy, it’s additionally vital to notice what his accomplishments imply for Black quarterbacks. For thus lengthy, Black gamers needed to struggle towards extensively held beliefs that they had been incapable of mastering the quarterback place or being the face of a franchise. Warren Moon is the one Black quarterback within the NFL Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame, however with a view to play quarterback, he needed to first spend six seasons taking part in within the Canadian Soccer League. Regardless of successful a Rose Bowl and placing up stellar numbers on the College of Washington, Moon was informed by NFL scouts that he ought to change positions. As a result of he refused, he wasn’t even invited to the NFL mix, an annual occasion the place coaches and scouts totally consider school gamers. Moon dominated the CFL, and ultimately made it to the NFL at 28 years previous. These struggles helped pave the best way for Mahomes, a sure Corridor of Famer. Though Black quarterbacks are now not an anomaly—a file 14 Black quarterbacks began for groups at first of the 2023 season—Mahomes’s success has raised the ceiling for Black quarterbacks even greater.
Mahomes’s largest hurdle to passing Brady is time. Brady performed 23 seasons and left the sport holding each vital quarterback file—passing yards, touchdowns, completions, makes an attempt, and wins. If Mahomes goes to be thought of higher than Brady, he’s going to wish to take a few of these information from him, compete in and win just a few extra Tremendous Bowls, and hope that he stays wholesome till retirement.
All of that’s doable. Changing into the best ever can be a silly expectation for many gamers. However not this one.
This text initially mentioned that Tom Brady gained his third championship when he was 30; he was 27. This text additionally initially mentioned that Brady beat Patrick Mahomes 31–9 in Tremendous Bowl 50 as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; it was Tremendous Bowl 55.
