The spectacle leading up to Super Bowl LV is underway and the quarterbacks remain in the spotlight. One of the greatest to ever play the game and the most talented up-and-coming quarterback in the league are set to square off on the NFL’s biggest stage.
The thing that makes the matchup even better than it already is, is the mutual respect that Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes clearly share for each other. Mahomes suffered his first NFL loss back in 2018 at the hands of Brady, but that game and play of the Chiefs’ young quarterback caught the attention of the salty veteran.
“I think he’s only elevated from that point on,” Brady said of Mahomes during Super Bowl LV Opening Night. “I think that year he was the MVP of the league, and the year after that, he came back got off to a great start, dealt with some injuries last year. I know he separated his kneecap, that’s a pretty tough injury, but he fought through that. He didn’t have the same statistical year as he had in 2018, but he goes onto win Super Bowl MVP. That’s an amazing accomplishment, to win MVP in ’18, win a Super Bowl in ’19 and then this year have the kind of year that he had, which is probably more similar to the year that he had in 2018. I just think he’s going to keep improving.”
Mahomes first memory of Brady, well, he actually didn’t recall it. He just knows that for as long as he can remember, he’s been the guy at the quarterback position.
“It was probably September 17, 1995, when I was born,” Mahomes told reporters last week. “He’s been around for a while.”
Brady has won a lot of football games over those years and Mahomes admires the way by which he’s been able to do it. Now in his fourth season in the league, Mahomes is still even trying to master some of the things that Brady does so well.
“Yeah, there’s a ton,” Mahomes said. “I mean the way he’s able to dissect defenses before the snap is something that I truly admire, that I’m trying to get to that level, the way he’s able to move within the pocket and to be able to reset his feet and to be completely calm and still make the throw right on the money no matter who’s around him is something that I’ll have continue to work on and as I continue in my career, I’m going to try to do whatever I can to watch tape on him because he’s doing it the right way and you can tell by the Super Bowl championships he has and rings on his fingers.”
For Brady, he doesn’t know Mahomes personally as he knows some other quarterbacks and players around the league. They shared a brief moment after the 2018 AFC Championship Game, one that let Mahomes know that he was on the right track. They’ve really only been rivals for three seasons now, but Brady has been able to tell a lot about Mahomes from afar.
“I don’t know him that well, I know obviously quite a few people that do know him, and they say great things about Pat [Mahomes], and the times that I’ve been around him, I really enjoyed the time,” Brady said. “He’s got a great maturity about him, he’s a great leader, he’s got great charisma. Again, I think it always speaks a lot when the players that he plays with say great things about him. It looks like all those guys on the Chiefs, they love that Pat’s the leader. He’s got a great relationship with his receivers, I think that always says a lot.”
Brady won his first Super Bowl title when Mahomes was just six years old. Now he’s playing in his 10th Super Bowl at 43 years old. That longevity for Brady is also something that has left an impression on Mahomes and will influence how he handles his future.
“If you want to play this sport for a long time, how physical it is you have to invest as much time into your body as you do anything else,” Mahomes said. “I’ve learned more and more in my young career about what I can do to keep myself available and healthy and try to be in the best nutritional state I can be in and I feel like I’ve gotten better, but I want to play as long as they let me. In order to do that, I have to take care of my body as much as I can and leave everything else on the field.”
Longevity isn’t always a given, though. The one thing that all great athletes seem to have in common is the ability to come through in the clutch. To put the team on your back and to come up with a play in the big moments. Brady has done it throughout his career, but he also sees that ability in Mahomes.
“I think there are a lot of things that make him a great player, obviously, his physical skill set,” Brady said of Mahomes. “But I think he’s got the ability to focus when the moments are the biggest and deliver for his team. That’s probably the mark of any great athlete, coming through in the clutch.”
The problem with that is only one of Brady and Mahomes can come through in the clutch in Super Bowl LV. While both players share mutual respect, neither is hoping for the other’s triumph come Sunday.
The Chiefs are headed to Tampa to face the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV! Be one of the lucky 22,000 fans in attendance at the big game by safely and securely purchasing your own ticket package via On Location.
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