Greatest player:
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes won over the Kansas City Chiefs well before becoming an NFL Most Valuable Player.
In the 2017 NFL draft, the Chiefs traded two firstround picks and a thirdround pick to move up and select quarterback Patrick Mahomes 10th overall.
A year later, the Chiefs installed Mahomes as their starter. In two seasons with Mahomes in the role, the Chiefs have played in consecutive AFC Championship Games and now a Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years — facing the 49ers on Sunday in Miami.
At Super Bowl opening night Monday, head coach Andy Reid was asked if the Chiefs envisioned such a trajectory with Mahomes under center and gave a notable answer.
“You never know about the time getting here, but you knew he was going to be great,” Reid said on NFL Network.
“Brett Veach said it — he’s our general manager — he said (Mahomes is) the greatest player he’d ever seen. That’s quite a tribute to the kid. And now that I’ve been around him as much as I have, and you’ve watched him play, he’s pretty doggone good.”
Mahomes spent his rookie season in a backup role behind Alex Smith. Before the 2018 season, the Chiefs traded Smith to Washington. It would allow for the emergence of Mahomes, the strongarmed QB — even if the move made for some brief uncertainty in Kansas City.
Running back Damien Williams signed with the Chiefs in March 2018 — shortly after the trade of Smith. On Tuesday, speaking with reporters at Super Bowl media availability in Miami, Williams recalled his reaction to seeing the quarterback switch.
“I didn’t really know too much about Pat,” Williams said. “I’m from San Diego. I know about Smith — he’s from San Diego. So it was like — it caught me offguard. I was just like, ‘Wow, I don’t know what we’re doing here.’
“At the end of the day, you can see that the decision they made and what they saw every day in Pat was something I didn’t see, not being here. And it’s turned out to be something special.”
Receiver Tyreek Hill had reason to be unsure about the QB change — he had 1,183 receiving yards in his second NFL season in 2017 playing with Smith.
“He helped me evolve my game,” Hill told reporters in Miami. “Me and Alex had a thing going. So it was like (being) on ‘The Bachelor’ again. I was meeting a new soulmate.”
Hill said of forming a rapport with Mahomes: “It was pretty quick.”
Mahomes flourished in 2018, his first season in Reid’s offense, passing for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns and being named the league MVP. This season, Mahomes threw for 4,031 yards with 26 touchdowns and five interceptions. He missed two games after dislocating his kneecap in a Week 7 win over Denver — an injury Mahomes recounted during Tuesday’s media availability.
“I thought the worst, for sure,” Mahomes said. “When you look down and your knee’s on the side of your leg, you never think that could be anything good. So, for me, it was very scary. … I was able to walk off the field. And after seeing all the Xrays and MRIs and seeing that I was going to have a chance to play, it was awesome. It was really a blessing.
“I’m just glad that I’m here now and I’m healthy and I’m able to go out there and play the game I love.”
Mahomes, known for his ability to deliver passes on the move or without eyeing his receiver, has looked as formidable as ever since his return from the injury. In his first game back, he passed for 446 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 10 loss to Tennessee. In their Jan. 19 rematch in the AFC title game, Mahomes threw for 294 yards and rushed eight times for 53 yards, including a stirring 27yard touchdown run that gave the Chiefs a lead before halftime.
Call it recency bias, but tight end Travis Kelce cited that play Tuesday when asked by a reporter to name his favorite Mahomes memory.
“He broke about three or four tackles and got in the end zone — showed us all something that we hadn’t seen out of him yet,” Kelce said.
“It was a twominute drill, so I’m like, ‘Get out of bounds!’ At least, I’m thinking in my mind, that’s what he’s going to do. And then he surprises everybody, cuts it back, breaks a few tackles and finds his way into the end zone. It’s ‘Magic Mahomes’ at his finest right there.”
For Mahomes, it seems as though impressing teammates has become a regularity. Defensive end Frank Clark was asked Tuesday in Miami what it’s like practicing against Mahomes.
“Man, it’s like watching a ‘goat’ throw a football,” Clark told reporters, apparently referencing the acronym for “greatest of all time.”
“You ever seen a goat throw a football? I have . ... Honestly, Pat is a great guy. You hear about it, you play against him like I did, then you see the myth, the man, the legend. Pat is everything you think.”