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Pat Mahomes, so superstitious from his baseball playing days that he plans to wear the same outfit Sunday as the previous two weekends, can freely admit it now:
He hated the idea of his son playing football.
He did not want Patrick playing high school football, let alone college football at Texas Tech and certainly not in the NFL for the Chiefs.
“Baseball had been pretty much his whole life growing up, and he always played basketball, too,” Mahomes, who pitched 11 years in the major leagues, told USA TODAY. “Those were his two sports. I was trying to keep him from playing football. But then his junior year in high school, he said he wanted to try this quarterback thing and see where it took him.”
Pat paused, took a deep breath and conceded: “Well, I’ve got to admit, he made the right choice.”
Patrick Mahomes, 6-3 and 225 pounds, who grew up in major league clubhouses, just so happens to be the hottest sensation in the NFL.
Patrick has thrown an NFL-record 10 touchdown passes in his first two weeks as the Chiefs quarterback, with a franchise-record six TDs last weekend against the Steelers. He has led the Chiefs to a 2-0 record with 582 passing yards and not a single interception.
The elder Mahomes, 48, lives in Tyler, Texas, and says he certainly didn’t plan on attending every Chiefs game this season. Yet after flying to Los Angeles to watch the season opener against the Chargers with former teammate and 21-year veteran LaTroy Hawkins, Patrick’s godfather, and then to Pittsburgh last week, he has his plane ticket to Kansas City this week for its home opener.
Considering Mahomes was one of the most superstitious players anyone has seen in Major League Baseball, he’ll keep going to every Chiefs game as long as they keep winning. And he’ll wear the same outfit: a white jersey with his son’s name on the back, white linen shorts and red Adidas shoes.
“You’re not going to find a more superstitious guy,” Hawkins said, “so when it’s freezing and snowing in December in Kansas City, you’re still going to see him wearing those shorts at Patrick’s football games.”
And he’ll be sitting beside Hawkins, his former teammate from the Twins, most games. Hawkins purchased two season tickets on the 48-yard line at Arrowhead Stadium to see his godson. Now, the two of them can give thanks every Sunday when Patrick steps on the field for the NFL’s new and controversial rule that protects quarterbacks, barring defensive players from landing on them with their full body weight.
“Thank God for that,” Mahomes says. “It definitely makes it a lot easier to watch games, I’ll tell you that. I know the nature of the game is violent. You have to be smart. That’s the only thing I get nervous about; he’s the worst at sliding.
“He doesn’t know how to get down without getting hit for some reason.”
Mahomes laughs, knowing that as a father he’ll always be his son’s toughest critic. Yet after watching his son exploit defenses the first two games, it’s a little tough to find fault with any aspect of his game.
“I get fired up seeing him live his dream and having his success,” Mahomes says, “just how much passion and heart he has.”
The coolest moment of his young career was when they got together for their traditional father-son pregame hug Sunday at the Steelers’ home stadium, just down the block from where Mahomes last played for the Pirates in 2003.
“That was mind-blowing to me,” Mahomes said. “Here he is in Heinz Field, where the Steelers won more Super Bowls than anyone in history, and he’s playing like it’s a pickup game. He was calm and relaxed, leading his team, and having fun doing it. I guess when you meet guys like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter growing up, you don’t get starstruck.”
Mahomes, who pitched for six teams and was 8-0 for the Mets in 1999 when they reached the National League Championship Series, is convinced Patrick could have had similar success if he chose to play baseball. The Tigers drafted him out of high school as an outfielder. Maybe even basketball. Yet once he became quarterback his junior year in high school, went to Texas Tech and became a first-round draft pick in 2017, there was no turning back.
“Really, I thought he was going to play basketball because he could do everything on the court,” Hawkins said. “Football was more of a challenge for him. So I don’t know if those other sports got boring for him or not, but football bit him in the ass, kind of like Cupid.
“I just texted him on his birthday (Monday) and told him, ‘I just love the way you are leading men,’ ” Hawkins said. “‘When things get uncomfortable in so many situations, you are comfortable. There is no panic. That’s what makes you an incredible player.’ ”
It was Patrick’s upbringing, the quarterback says, that has helped him stay so poised. He was in a major league clubhouse for most of his young life, watched the way his father and Hawkins prepared each day, and learned the importance of leadership.
“When he wanted to go to the NFL,” Hawkins said, “I asked him, ‘ Are you ready to lead men? You have led players your age all of your life. I’m talking about grown men, with players’ careers dependent on your performance, who need you to perform to help feed their families. You ready for that?’
“He’s such an intelligent, young man, with the intellect to be an NFL quarterback, I knew he could do this. He has always been so mature, so polite, really, the all-American kid.”
Now, after spending his rookie season watching and learning, Patrick has been handed the keys to the Chiefs’ future, vowing not to let anyone down.
“The stuff he’s doing on the football field now, we’ve seen him do,” Mahomes said. “It’s nothing at all new to us. He does things that most people his age wouldn’t even think about doing with his no-look passes, the way he reads defenses. Nothing really surprises me. Really, I laugh about it, because I expect him to do everything.
“You know I was pretty proud of my baseball career, but I’ve got to say, he’s already passed me up.”