COMMANDER in CHIEF

Patrick Mahomes, for the glory-bound talks about his life lessons, friendships, inspirations and more star quarterback Kansas City Chiefs,

- NICOLAS STECHER and JORDAN RIEFE

In 2019, quarterback Patrick Mahomes of Tyler, Texas, led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years. They defeated the San Francisco 49ers, and Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP, only the second Black quarter-back and the youngest ever to take home the honor.

A 10-year contract extension with a potential worth of $503 million (the third-largest in sporting history), was his reward. It was money well spent as he took his team to the Super Bowl again the following year, this time against the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When Mahomes emerged from the locker room after a grueling 31-9 loss, he was stunned to find Brady waiting outside the door. "The biggest thing he said was, "Stay with the process and be who you are," as Mahomes told Heavy.com. "He didn't want me to change at all. He wanted me to go out there and take advantage of every single day. When you hear it from a guy like that, who's had the success at the level that he's had for his entire career, you know you've got to take advantage of every single day if you want to be great."

The son of MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes, and the godson of pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, it was clear sports was in Patrick's future from an early age, and he initially played baseball before turning to the gridiron. The number ten draft pick in 2016, Mahomes was lucky to sign with Kansas City, a competitive team with a 12-4 record at the time. He spent his rookie season as backup to veteran Alex Smith, but became the starter in 2018 when he threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, making him the only quarterback in history to throw for over 5,000 yards in a single season in both college and the NFL. That year, he was named to the Pro Bowl, named First Team AllPro, and won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year and NFL Most Valuable Player awards. The rest is history in the making.