Patrick Mahomes likes to note that growing up in Whitehouse, Texas, “football was my No. 3 sport.”
He ranks baseball and basketball as more important youthful concerns. His friends believe he was best at basketball — although at about 6-foot-2 a professional future was limited — and of course he played football and baseball at Texas Tech but was also drafted by the Detroit Tigers. He also golfed, competed in the high jump and took on just about any game that came along.
All of it makes his pursuit of being football’s No. 1 all-time player even more stunning; but also offers an explanation.
“Patrick is the poster child for the multi-sport athlete,” said Adam Cook, one of his old high school football coaches.
In doing everything and specializing in nothing, Mahomes focused on a single thing — winning. The sports and seasons and playing fields (or courts) would change, but what remained were he and his buddies trying to come out on top.
Sometimes he was a point guard hitting them on the break, sometimes he was a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, sometimes he was heaving one deep into the end zone.
“Just playing,” Mahomes likes to say.
And perhaps just learning how to win in any manner available, which even more than his myriad skills has defined Mahomes’ career. He’s never been the prototype professional quarterback, but as Kansas City opens the NFL season hosting Baltimore on Thursday, he stands on the cusp of history.
The Chiefs are seeking a third consecutive Super Bowl victory, something no NFL team has ever accomplished. Winning another Lombardi (Mahomes’ fourth overall) in February would give him something that not even the other quarterbacking greats have. Not Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Bart Starr or Terry Bradshaw. Not even Tom Brady.
“You never know if you’re going to win another Super Bowl — I mean, that’s your hope,” Mahomes said this week.
The hope remains strong because of Mahomes. He’s just 28 but the roster around him has…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patrick-mahomes-has-spent-his-life-practicing-one-thing–winning-153709958.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-09-05 15:37:09
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