Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II has set a standard that is nothing short of excellence in his NFL career. He has two MVP trophies to go along with two Super Bowl titles. On Sunday, Feb. 10 in Las Vegas, he’ll go for title No. 3 as he takes his fourth trip to the big game in five years. Mahomes has already been discussed largely in the greatest player and quarterback conversations of all time, and he’s not even 29.
In extreme slang terms, having a Black MLB veteran, Patrick Mahomes Sr., as a father and a supportive White mother, Randi, Mahomes II, in some circles makes him a light-skinned assassin. He has light brown eyes, a trademark fade haircut with his curls sitting on the top of his head and he has a great amount of patience and manners. During Super Bowl LVIII Media Day on Feb. 5, the generational quarterback gave direct answers and eye contact to each of the approximate 100 reporters who asked him a question within 60 minutes. He recently even went viral for his “dad bod” as a clip of him shirtless in the locker room went public. On the field, however, he takes no prisoners.
A collection of unexplainable throws from Patrick Mahomes this season. From different arm angles to off platform and tight window throws, he never ceases to amaze. pic.twitter.com/9NUHjhRxn3
— Kendell Hollowell (@KHollowell_) February 6, 2023
Week after week and year after year, Mahomes dices up defenses surgically and does whatever is needed to lead his team to victory.
He has a top 10 pass completion percentage of all time, according to The Football Database. On the ground, he has also averaged at least five yards per carry in each of the past five seasons. Mahomes returns to the Super Bowl this year after the Chiefs got off to a cloudy 9-6 start. The team also returns for the second-consecutive season after losing superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins.
Mahomes’ greatness draws the immediate comparison to Tom Brady, the retired quarterback who’s widely thought to be football’s greatest quarterback ever. It’s a comparison Mahomes said he doesn’t feel is necessarily appropriate yet because Brady has seven career championships.
But if Mahomes’ closest sports comparison didn’t even come from the sport of football?
Steph Curry is, without a doubt, a top 15 NBA player ever and the game’s greatest shooter of all time. He’s also one of the league’s best ballhandlers and can score facing every defense. In six trips to the NBA Finals, he has four championships. He won with a young Golden State Warriors team in 2015, back-to-back titles with Kevin Durant and a super team in 2017 and 2018, and carried his squad to another championship as the undoubted leader in 2022. Even now as a 35-year-old, he’s facing double and triple teams while still putting up 60-point performances.
STEPH STARTS THE GAME OFF 6-6 FROM THREE 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/p5aUkedrWI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 9, 2024
Physically, Curry has been described as an athlete who resembles more of the everyday working professional. He’s typically one of the smaller players on the court, despite standing at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds. Instead of jaw-dropping dunks and high-flying blocks, Curry became must-watch television with his below-the-rim skills off smooth finger rolls and his trademark jump shots. As far as appearance and family background go, Curry also had a Black dad who was a professional athlete, former NBA veteran Dell Curry, with a supportive Black mother and former Virginia Tech volleyball star, Sonya.
“If I played basketball, I’d be just like Steph Curry,” Mahomes told rolling out. “I mean, I got the shot. I just have to get a couple of extra reps in. You know, a couple of extra shots up, and I’d be shooting just like him. I mean, that’s who I’d be.”
The comparison is also something San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowl defensive lineman Javon Hargrave, who believes he’d be Zion Williamson in the NBA, agrees with as well.
“I mean, [Mahomes II] can put the football everywhere,” Hargrave told rolling out. “Steph can put that basketball everywhere. So, that clearly makes sense.”
