Patrick Mahomes is just 27 years old but has already distinguished himself as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play.
However, as a recent interview with Complex’s Ben Felderstein reveals, there was a recent time when the reigning MVP and Super Bowl MVP felt an extra weight on his shoulders. Despite lighting defenses up on a week-to-week basis, Mahomes maintained that losing Super Bowl 55 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had him doubting whether he’d even get another chance at a title.
With Mahomes trying to distinguish himself amongst his current elite peers (like, say, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts), that first Super Bowl defeat seemed to really sting.
Because of the long-term career possibilities that loss could have opened up, Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs’ ensuing victory in Super Bowl 57 now appears all the more worthwhile.
“I think winning the second Super Bowl [57] has taken a lot of pressure off of me. If you look around the league, winning two Super Bowls is crazy [54 and 57]. Not a lot of people have done it in their careers, especially at the quarterback position. And so, obviously I have goals to continue to win, and try to win as many Super Bowls as possible, but it kind of gives you that relief to know that you’ve done it with two different teams.”
Mahomes’ past reservations about his only Super Bowl shortcoming to date are fair. The Tom Brady-like career of seemingly playing for and winning a championship every season is rare. Many great quarterbacks get one shot at a title, and not everyone succeeds.
Mahomes getting the monkey off his back and being able to look forward to a continued fruitful career seems to have been a moment of relief for him.
“I think when you win one, everybody’s like, ‘Alright, well are you going to win another?’ It’s kind of an elite category to be in. And so, after winning the first one [54], I lost a Super Bowl [55] and like I was talking about earlier it’s like, ‘Man, am I going to have another chance to get there and win it?’ And to be able to just keep pushing through all that failure of, you’ve put in the hard work, and it didn’t happen. To be able to keep pushing through and get that second Lombardi Trophy, it’s like, ‘Alright, this hard work is for a reason. I’m doing it the right way.'”
I can’t imagine what a less constrained Mahomes would even look like on the field.
I just know that a guy who appears to frustrate defensive coordinators with ease feeling less pressure should be terrifying for the rest of the NFL. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mahomes adds a few more titles and MVPs to his growing trophy case by the time he hangs his shoulder pads up.