Mahomes on chasing Brady as the GOAT: "I'm not even close to halfway"

BOSTON -- A strange thing happened last week. For whatever reason, after Chiefs secured their spot in Super Bowl LVIII, a whole bunch of people rushed to declare Patrick Mahomes as the greatest quarterback in the history of the sport.

Talk about getting swept up in the moment.

While yes, the path looks excellent for Mahomes to push Tom Brady for that title, the reality is that Mahomes still has a very long way to go if he hopes to truly earn that title. And though the talking heads and Twitter eggs may have already bestowed GOAT status onto Mahomes, the 28-year-old stated that he's a long, long way from really entering that territory.

"I mean, I'm not even close to halfway," Mahomes said Monday at Super Bowl opening night in Las Vegas. "I haven't put a lot of thought into it. Your goal is to be the best player that you can be, and I know I'm blessed to be with a lot of great players around me. So right now, it's doing whatever I can to beat a great 49ers team and trying to get that third ring. And then, if you ask me that question in like 15 years, then I'll see if I can get close to seven. But seven seems like a long ways away still."

Obviously, winning a third Super Bowl would help propel Mahomes forward in that conversation, as only four other starting quarterbacks have won three Super Bowls. Brady, as we know, won seven, while Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw each won four and Troy Aikman won three. (Earl Morrall won three Super Bowls, though not as a starter. Jimmy Garoppolo needs to win one more Super Bowl as a backup to join that exclusive club. I'm getting sidetracked now.)

At the same time ... Tom Brady had three Super Bowls (and two Super Bowl MVPs) under his belt at the age of 27. Granted, Brady at that point was not the statistical monster that he became in his 30s. But the point is that this type of winning that Mahomes is enjoying was likewise enjoyed by Brady in his earlier years.

The whole matter of the GOAT is based on what Brady did later in his career, which kept going and going and going and going. Winning that elusive fourth Super Bowl at age 37, followed by the 28-3 comeback at age 39, followed by a record sixth Super Bowl win at age 41 ... followed by an absurd seventh Super Bowl victory in Tampa at the age of 43. The man threw for over 27,000 yards and 193 touchdowns in the regular season after turning 40 years old. He added 4,300 more yards and 25 more touchdowns in the postseason after turning 40. He went 10-4 in the playoffs and 68-30 in the regular season after turning 40. You get the idea. (Brady beating Mahomes in the 2018 playoffs in Kansas City and again in Super Bowl LV certainly helped him cement his own status.)

Could Mahomes eventually do all of that? Sure, it's possible ... though he might want to look into the TB12 Method if he wants that body to hold up to the rigors of NFL contact through his 30s and into his 40s. ("I have a six-pack; it's just under the dad bod," Mahomes insisted on Monday.) But he hasn't gotten there yet, and he can't get there even with a victory on Sunday.

While a number of loud people in the world may not fully grasp that right now, at least Mahomes has a sensible read on his own situation.