First, a disclaimer.
I am not a Kansas City Chiefs hater.
I don’t think they are lucky because they win so many close games. Nor do I believe their three Super Bowl victories in the past five years are the result of a rigged or scripted NFL.
I’m not a fan of any particular NFL team. I do not suffer from Chiefs-winning fatigue and am not tired of Patrick Mahomes and his bottomless bag of tricks. It’s the opposite. I respect the way the Chiefs play great defense and find ways to win on offense, often largely due to clutch plays by Mahomes.
Mahomes is the athlete I most enjoy watching these days, in any sport. I’m not even weary of his commercials, although I won’t be changing my insurance or shampoo any time soon because of them.
I admire how he performs, especially in big situations, and while playing hurt. He is a leader, and can succeed by the book or on pure instinct. As it is while watching Lamar Jackson, I almost always see something I haven’t before.
Mahomes, 29, has started at quarterback for three Super Bowl victories in his first eight seasons. Because he has accomplished so much on the front end of his career, I am among the many intrigued by what his final body of work will look like.
With all of that being said, let’s be clear:
Partick Mahomes is NOT the Michael Jordan of football — at least not yet.
You already knew that, right?
No? OK, then at least hear me out …
Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs will try to become the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls on Feb. 9, against the Eagles.
If they do it, it will be four NFL championships for Mahomes. Not to say he can’t catch Jordan’s six in the NBA, but even if he does, he’s still got a way to go. A growing number of pundits are prisoners of a moment that hasn’t even happened yet.
And what about Tom Brady? He is widely acknowledged as football’s greatest quarterback of all time and finished his career with seven Super Bowl wins.
Some say Brady was the ultimate game manager, and Mahomes changed the way championship-winning quarterback is played, and that makes him Jordanesque.
But it’s a false premise. Mahomes didn’t change the game. But he is the quarterback who is most successful at the way offense in the NFL has evolved.
One of the most apt things I’ve heard a football coach say is that the guys who coach on Sunday learn from those who coach on Saturdays, who in turn learn from those who coach on Fridays. Part of that is offenses that make use of quarterbacks as more than just passers.
Look at it this way: Might the Chiefs of this era be as good with Michael Vick or Randall Cunningham in his prime at quarterback? And what if Jackson or Josh Allen had been Kansas City’s quarterback the past several years? Might they have meshed as well as Mahomes with that superb defense and Andy Reid’s offense that includes Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce?
Impossible to answer, I know. But the main point is that Mahomes is one part of the Chiefs machine. He’s a very important part, but just one of several key ingredients. All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones is another, and there’s a strong case that he should have been MVP of the Super Bowl played after the 2019 season instead of Mahomes.
It also ties into why the Mahomes-Jordan comparison is very flawed. One of the assertions often made in support of it is that Jordan’s dominance kept other all-time great players from winning championships, and Mahomes is doing that, too.
I can buy that way more in Jordan’s case. Basketball is a different game, where one star player makes a bigger difference than even a quarterback in football. Take Jordan out of the equation and Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing probably each win at least one championship. Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler might not have won any if Jordan hadn’t taken that mid-career break to try to play baseball.
Unfortunately for the rest of the NBA, Jordan hit curveballs about as well as Mahomes spiked the football after his touchdown in Sunday’s AFC conference win over the Bills. Jordan returned to basketball to win three more NBA championships in a row.
Our sports editor, Curtis Murayama, doesn’t agree with everything I have to say about this, but when we talked about it Tuesday he did bring up a good example of why it’s challenging to compare superstars from different sports.
“Jordan was All-NBA defensive team nine times,” he said. “Mahomes doesn’t play defense.”
He has made three tackles in his NFL career, presumably after turnovers. I’m pretty sure Mahomes doesn’t play on special teams, too.
Maybe 10 years from now Travis Hunter will have won a bunch of Super Bowls, starring at receiver and cornerback. Then he can be the Michael Jordan of football.
Seriously though, where do I think Patrick Mahomes fits in among the greatest athletes of all-time?
Ask me in 12 days. Or better yet, 12 years.
