Since he was a teenager, Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes has always found a way to shine on the big stage. From coming up clutch in key moments as a 14-year-old to lead Rose Capital East Little League (Tyler, Texas) to a runner-up finish at the 2010 Junior League Baseball World Series, to being named a 37th round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 2014 MLB Draft, Mr. Mahomes’ early years were filled with impressive performances on the baseball field. One decade later, his continued leadership shines through on the gridiron as he engineered an impressive fourth-quarter comeback over the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl LIV and be named the Super Bowl MVP.
Son of former MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes, the 2020 MVP’s tremendous athletic career started off on a local Little League® field, like many other professional athletes. After his impressive Little League career, Mr. Mahomes went on to become a standout three-sport athlete at Whitehouse High School where he was named a Maxpreps Male Athlete of the Year for 2013-2014 and, after turning down the draft pick by the Tigers, continued his multi-sport career playing football and baseball at Texas Tech University.
Before his junior season in 2016, Mr. Mahomes shifted to focus solely on football. That season, Mr. Mahomes went on to finish the season leading the country in yards per game (421), passing yards (5,052), total offense (5,312), points responsible for (318), and total touchdowns (53) as a CoSIDA Academic All-American 2nd Team honoree before going on to be selected 10th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Chiefs.
Mr. Mahomes made his first career NFL start in Week 17 of his rookie season in 2017 and was named the starting quarterback for the 2018 season. That year, Mr. Mahomes went on to a record-setting year that included MVP honors and a First Team All-Pro selection after leading the Chiefs to their first AFC Championship since 1993.
In 2019, Mr. Mahomes become the undisputed leader of his team once again. After dislocating his patella in Week 7, Mr. Mahomes returned to the Chiefs in Week 10 with a career-high 446 yards and three touchdown performance, before continuing to lead the Chiefs to the team’s fourth consecutive division title. The 2020 postseason journey was no easy task for the Chiefs, but Mr. Mahomes always found a way to pull from the character he first built in his Little League days and lead his team to victory.
Down 24-0 early in the second quarter of the Divisional Round against the Texans, Mr. Mahomes orchestrated an impressive comeback as he led the Chiefs on a 51-7 run after throwing for 321 yards and five touchdowns to earn a trip to the AFC Championship with a 51-31 victory. In the AFC Championship game against the Titans, Mr. Mahomes showed off the skills he built as a three-sport athlete in high school as he threw for three touchdowns and rushed for a 27-yard touchdown to send the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl since 1970.
Facing off against a fellow Little League graduate, Richard Sherman (Hollypark LL), on the biggest stage in Super Bowl LIV, Mr. Mahomes shined in the spotlight as he led the Chiefs on a 21-0 run in the final nine minutes of the game to take a 31-20 victory. That impressive performance earned Mr. Mahomes the Super Bowl MVP honors after throwing for 286 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the game, while rushing for 29 yards and a touchdown. Along with Mr. Mahomes, fellow Little League graduates Tom Brady, Nick Foles, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Troy Aikman, Joe Montana, and John Elway have also earned Super Bowl MVP honors.
Throughout his NFL career, Mr. Mahomes has always shown the extreme versatility and skills that he learned as a multi-sport athlete growing up, from his multi-angled and off-balanced throws learned as a baseball star to his impressive footwork learned on the basketball court. For Mr. Mahomes, like many other impressive professional athletes, the first chapter in his incredible story all began on a local Little League field and will forever be an important piece of the journey that has shaped his life today.