Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on being a dad, his career and his legacy: "Don't want to have any regrets"
Patrick Mahomes is, arguably, the best player in the National Football League right now. The quarterback of the world champion Kansas City Chiefs was named MVP of the NFL and of Super Bowl LVII, where he earned his second Super Bowl ring.
He's only 27 years old.
"The season was amazing," Mahomes told "CBS Mornings." "But being a dad now, too, and getting to enjoy that in the off-season, I think that's been the best part."
He and his wife Brittany are the proud parents of a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old and the children have changed his perspective on life and the game. "You enjoy the moments," he said.
"Being able to go home and see my daughter and see my son, I have a better understanding of being present and enjoying it. That translates to the football field," Mahomes said. "And we've been on a heck of a run. But I'm trying to enjoy those moments, 'cause I know it doesn't last forever, even though we want it to.'"
The other person at home is his wife. "I truly mean this when I say, I think if I didn't have Brittany, I wouldn't be in the position I am now," he said.
Brittany and Patrick Mahomes met as teenagers in Texas, before the fame, fortune and scrutiny.
"I was not prepared for this," she laughed. "And at such a young age. We were in love and I loved him with all of my heart. But, you know, I didn't expect it to skyrocket this soon, and us kind of just being thrown into the fire like this."
Now, she hopes that when people watch the new Netflix series "Quarterback," they see that her husband "grinds all year round."
"And, you know, he is so much deserving of everything that he's won and done," she said.
Mahomes on his legacy
"If you play this position, you play this sport, you always want to think about your legacy a little bit and how you're perceived and how you can go out there and play the game," he said. "But, for me, I've always said, I just don't want to have any regrets."
That has, in part, led Mahomes to the Netflix reality series "Quarterback," where cameras captured a trio of NFL quarterbacks — Mahomes, Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Marcus Mariota, who played for the Atlanta Falcons last season — on an unfiltered journey through the 2022-23 season.
"I actually talked to Peyton [Manning] about it for a while," Mahomes said. "What stuck with me is he said, 'At the end of my career, I wish I would have done it so my kids could've seen what I was doing every day.' And that hit me, obviously, having two kids. When my kids grow up, I wanted them to see that dad wasn't just gone just to be gone. I was gone doing something, to build, to be great. And so, whenever they get older, they can see how hard I worked."
Preparation and success
"I watch a lot of Kobe [Bryant] videos. And if you ever watch anything about Kobe, he always talks about the shots that he practices thousands and thousands of times to take once, to take twice," he said. "And so, whenever those moments do come up during the game, it's not like it's the first time I've done it. I've prepared for that. And I think that's why [time] slows down."
"You see the highlights and everybody's like, 'Oh, it's a highlight reel. He's being Superman out there.' But they don't see that preparation," he said.
"I want to be someone that the kids can look up to"
Mahomes' hard work and preparation doesn't stop when he steps off the field. He's a staple in the Kansas City community, through his work with the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation, and his philanthropy.
In April, Mahomes was named among Time magazine's Most Influential People of 2023.
"I want to be someone that the kids can look up to and say that, 'Hey, I want to be like Patrick Mahomes,'" he said. "And I want parents to think that, 'Hey, that's a guy that I want my kid to be like.' And so, that's how I'll play the game. I try to enjoy it. I try to enjoy my time with my family. And when I'm on TV or when I'm in the spotlight, I try to show off the right example."
"I want to always be remembered as a great quarterback, but remembered more as a better person," he said. "That's my goal — I want people to see the love that I have for the game of football, the love I have for my family, and the love I have for being a role model. And I think if they see that, and they remember me as that, then I've done what I need to do."