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The Super Bowl was Mahomes’ greatest comeback Did you know? Whitehouse over John Tyler was his first favorite FROM STAFF, WIRE REPORTS MIAMI — They call Miami the Magic City. It was all of that for Kansas City and long-suffering Chiefs fans on Sunday night. It was that for the catapulting superstardom of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. And it was magical for Miami itself, which also won the night as host of its record 11th Super Bowl, this one crowning the league’s 100th season as more than 100 million viewers watched. For all but San Francisco and 49ers fans it was an epic, historic night at Hard Rock Stadium as the Chiefs rallied to win 31-20 in the 54th Super Bowl, on the grandest stage in American sports. Magical? It was the third straight game this postseason that Mahomes and K.C. have rallied from double-digit deficits, this time overcoming a 20-10 second half hole — with Damian Williams scoring the winning points on a 5-yard pass from Mahomes with 2:26 left. He added a 38-yard touchdown run with 1:12 let to make the final score more lopsided than the game was. Kansas City had been the slight betting favorite to win but was a bigger sentimental favorite. The Chiefs had not been in or won a Super Bowl since 1969, a half century ago. Man had just landed on the moon. Many were rooting for Chiefs coach Andy Reid, too, as he had coached more postseason games than any coach who had not win a Super Bowl. Heck, it was former Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt who even coined the phrase “Super Bowl.” His kids loved the toy of the day, a high bouncing “Super Ball.” It gave Hunt an idea. “I have called it the Super Bowl,” Hunt told then-commissioner Pete Rozelle, “which can obviously be improved upon.” Of course the game’s prevailing storyline coming in was the expected coronation of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He was league MVP last year at age 23. A Super Bowl ring now at 24 crowns him as the greatest QB today and the new face of the NFL. Mahomes was asked on national television “can you tell us about your first comeback, high school, college, and what happened with your mindset in that zone? Mahomes said, “It wasn’t my first comeback but I think the one I will always remember was when I won the district championship my senior year, the first time we had won in a long time. We played John Tyler, which is a powerhouse in Texas and where Earl Campbell went to high school,” said Mahomes. “We got to beat them, we had to go down and the end of the game and score a touchdown in the last drive, and I actually ran a touchdown in. “The mindset of never giving up was always instilled
in me, to go out there and compete until the clock is at zero and that is how I have been my entire life and career,” Mahomes said. “So there have been times I have lost games and times I have won games. I’m just going to compete to the end no matter what.” As for that win over John Tyler? This is from the Tyler Morning Telegraph the day after the game on Nov. 9, 2013: John Tyler failed on a two-point conversion in the final minute as No. 3 Whitehouse held on for a 55-54 victory to claim the District 16-4A championship on Friday at Wildcat Stadium. “It’s one of those mental things,” Whitehouse coach Adam Cook said. “Coach Ricklan Holmes had been asked before, ‘Was this a rivalry?’ And his answer was ‘No.’ And I told the kids that was totally what I said because it’s not a rivalry until you beat somebody. “In our kids’ minds it’s definitely a rivalry game. It’s a game they always look forward to.” Senior quarterback Patrick Mahomes amassed 456 yards and accounted for seven touchdowns to lead the Wildcats (10-0, 5-0) to their first district title since 2006. Whitehouse improved to 3-1 all-time against John Tyler. “To look at John Tyler and a win like this is very huge,” Cook said. “It lets our kids who come in now know it can be done. It’s going to be tough because year in and year out coach Holmes is going to do a great job, but just knowing we can do that.” The Lions’ 23-game district winning streak came to an end as John Tyler (7-3, 4-1) also failed to win a district title for the first time in five years. Mahomes, a Texas Tech commit, ran in from 14 yards put his team on top 55-48 with 1:53 to play. Mahomes completing 23 of 46 passes for 371 yards, five TDs and one pick, adding 85 yards and two scores on the ground. He completed passes to eight different receivers. “Two great quarterbacks out there on the field being generals leading their team,” Holmes said. “Mahomes led his team to a victory and we came up short.” “This is one of the best wins I’ve ever had,” said senior quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who passed for 371 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 85 yards and another pair or scores. “Getting to do this out here with all my brothers and the kids I’ve played with since I was 10 years old, and getting to complete it with a win here on our home turf, is a great feeling.” All week heading into the game, the seniors reflected on how they set a goal to beat John Tyler when the UIL’s biennial realignments and reclassifications moved the Lions from 5A to 4A. That came when the seniors were eighth graders, far removed from their current status among the state’s elite teams.
Patrick Mahomes made an amazing play on a 3rd-down-and-15 in the fourth quarter to save the Super Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs trailed San Francisco, 20-10 at the time and went on to win 31-20 and Mahomes was named MVP. Should we have been surprised the East Texas native made the play?
Consider this amazing stat:
During this season and the run to the Super Bowl, Mahomes led the Chiefs to many comebacks, but with his back against the wall on plays of 3rd-and-15 yards or longer, Mahomes was 13-for-17 for 299 yards, three touchdowns and not a single interception.
Above: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Partick Mahomes (15) embraces his mother Randi Martin Mahomes in celebration of his team’s Super Bowl LIV Championship win over the San Fransisco 49ers. Top of page: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Partick Mahomes (15) looks on with open arms as confetti falls down around him after leading his team to victory in a Super Bowl LIV Championship win over the San Fransisco 49ers. (Cara Campbell/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
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Will Mahomes magic turn the Chiefs into the next NFL dynasty? Off the field, Super Bowl MVP Mahomes was a winner for children thanks to 15 and the Mahomies
Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes hoists the trophy after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Super Bowl LIV football game in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) JOHN ANDERSON janderson@tylerpaper.com MIAMI — After leading Kansas City to its first Super Bowl win in 50 years, the question became how many more rings can the Chiefs win with Patrick Mahomes, who was named Super Bowl MVP in Sunday’s 31-20 come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco 49ers? Mahomes became the first quarterback to lead three double-digit comebacks in the same playoffs in the 100year history of the NFL. “(Mahomes) is unbelievable,” Reid added. “He challenges you as a coach to give you more. So, his aptitude is ridiculous. As a coach, you love that. You’re able to feed him new plays and he gobbles those things up and makes them good even better than they did on paper. Then he’s a great leader. So, he’s got an innate ability to make everybody around him better. And you saw that (Sunday) night.” Shortly after winning his first Super Bowl at 24 — like New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady did — the debate already began if Mahomes and the Chiefs can be the NFL’s next dynasty. “It’s pretty amazing the dynasty the Patriots have had these last 15-20 years,” said Mahomes, who was 26 of 42 for 286 yards with three total touchdowns and two interceptions against the 49ers. “For me, it’s about taking it one year at a time. We came up short last year. We understood how hard of a challenge it was to get to this position again and we found a way to do it. We understand that when we come back next year, it’s going to be the same amount of tenacity and dedication every single day if we want to be here (again).” Brady and coach Bill Belichick have led the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances and six championships since 2002. Mahomes, who became the youngest player in history to win an NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP, said the Chiefs will be a target for opponents next season as defending Super Bowl champions. “I’m going to enjoy it for a couple of weeks, but knowing that the mindset is we’re going to get back
Thank you
grinding this offseason,” he said. “Go back in, try to do more stuff because we know that everybody’s going to be gunning for us.” While Mahomes focuses on another Super Bowl run for the Chiefs, another team is working on a run for his charity, 15 and the Mahomies. Thanks to a last minute push, fans buying Hy-Vee Mahomes Magic Crunch helped Mahomes raise over $100,000 for the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation. Mahomes, a Whitehouse graduate, was on the radar of the man who brought the world Flutie Flakes over 20 years ago and eventually created the cereal. Ty Ballou, the president and CEO of PLB Sports and Entertainment in Pittsburgh. “The goal was to sell 50,000 boxes which we thought was pretty aggressive. Hy-Vee is the major grocery chain in the Kansas City marketing area, but they only have 40 to 50 stores,” Ballou explained. “In Western Pennsylvania, when we do a marketing program with the Pittsburgh Steelers, thanks to Giant Eagle and others, we can get into 150 to 175 stores. The same with Wegmans and Tops in western New York. “When you talk about 50 stores and 50,000 boxes, that’s a lot of product, that’s 1,000 cases per store,” Ballou continued. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years and my forecasting skills are absolutely non-existent. They went through 80,000 boxes in one week. We had to go back and re-print boxes then they sold another 80,000 boxes in 10 days. And now, we just went over 300,000 boxes since August which is a remarkable number based on stores and the size of that market. It’s just tremendous.” Mahomes started the foundation in 2019 after being named the NFL Most Valuable Player. The website (15andthemahomies.org) which takes donations, said the foundation is “dedicated to improving the lives of children. The Foundation will support initiatives that focus on health, wellness, communities in need of resources and other charitable causes.” Ballou, who was at an event with Mahomes’ agent Leigh Steinberg and the family the day before the Super Bowl, looked back on early 2019.
Patrick
From left, Troy Witt, Teresa Toombs (friend of Mahomes family), Ryder Ballou, Randi Mahomes and Ty Ballou the day before the Super Bowl. Witt and the Ballou’s are with PLB Sports and Entertainment who produced Mahomes Magic Crunch cereal.
“We liked what Patrick did on the field, we checked up on him, saw he did a lot of charity work even before he started his foundation,” said Ballou. “Certainly we didn’t know they would wind up in the Super Bowl, but based on his talents and the stuff he does off the field and in the market, we decided to come out with the cereal. “Leigh had mentioned Patrick was starting a foundation and it’s always a good idea to put that on the side panel,” Ballou continued. “Leigh talked to the family, they liked the idea and Patrick was always a Frosted Flakes fan. It all came together, they liked the focus on the charity and what we did in the past. “We brought it to Hy-Vee, who are the official grocery chain of the Chiefs and they already have an ice cream,” Ballou said. “They liked the idea and they partnered with Patrick to do things outside of cereal. As a result of Hy-Vee having the exclusive product, the Kansas City Chiefs logo appears on the box and the uniform.” Steinberg has been pleased as well with the cereal and Mahomes as a person, adding, “What Patrick has done with his cereal and charity is a testament to his character.” Ballou has the same feelings with Mahomes Magic Crunch as he did with Flutie Flakes. “It is very Flutie-esque. As Flutie was growing and going viral, we were able to take that product and put it in New England, and then Walmart and it grew and grew,” said Ballou. “The only reason we are not there yet is because of the NFL license we can only sell it in a restricted market around Kansas City.” Ballou then said with a laugh, “If we could sell this product in Tyler, Texas, it would absolutely be off the chart. To sell 300,000 boxes in just three months in a small area is amazing and it’s not over yet.” Tina Potthoff, the vice-president of communications for Hy-Vee, said while the store has a partnership with the Chiefs, Mahomes has made the success of the cereal happen and is 100 percent behind the donations to his foundation. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From the Desk of Ty Ballou PLB Sports and Entertainment: To the Mahomes family, Whitehouse and Tyler residents and the great football fans in East Texas: I have been fortunate over the past two decades to work with a a tremendous number of professional athletes who have given back...and I am honored to add Patrick Mahomes to my company’s list. When I had the opportunity to work with football legend Doug Flutie and create a product to help raise money for the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, I jumped at the chance. Doug and I launched Flutie Flakes cereal, and never did we imagine selling 2.4 million boxes and raising more than $14 million in donations for families in need. I didn’t think anyone or anything could ever top that. But then came Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes and his family have established a great foundation - 15 and the Mahomies - and thanks to my relationships with his agent and GML (our cereal supplier), we worked with Midwestern grocer Hy-Vee to come up with Mahomes Magic Crunch cereal. Beginning in August 2019, we worked with Hy-Vee to sell Patrick’s great tasting cereal in the Kansas City region. And, in just a short period of time, more than 300,000 boxes of cereal have been sold, allowing Patrick to donate more than $100,000 to kids in need through his foundation. Even though I don’t live in Texas, I want to thank the great people of Whitehouse, Tyler and East Texas for being such a great place to live and raise a family, for your strong faith, your work-ethic and supporting such a great athlete who now has become an international role model to kids and adults everywhere. He was already a winner. But when he went out on Sunday and engineered the second-largest comeback in Super Bowl history leading the Chiefs to a 31-20 victory, he provided inspiration to us all. Thank you again to the Mahomes family and of course to the residents of East Texas for your support. We could not do it without you.
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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the NFL Super Bowl LIV football game in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Play: How Mahomes won the Super Bowl and MVP with one throw Coach Cook at Whitehouse set the tone in confidence for Mahomes and Coach Reid did the same for KC JOHN ANDERSON janderson@tylerpaper.com MIAMI - When Patrick Mahomes ran for a 27-yard touchdown to lift the Kansas City Chiefs into the Super Bowl over the Tennessee Titans, it was called the best touchdown run in playoffs history. The Whitehouse graduate only needed two weeks for everyone to forget about that play and talk about another one. However, this one did not result in a touchdown. Rather, with Kansas City trailing by 10 points, 20-10 and just 7:13 left in the game, they faced a 3rd-and-15 from their own 35-yard-line. If the Chiefs do not get a first down? They punt and the game is probably over. Not only did Mahomes call the play, he threw the ball 57.1 yards in the air, farther than any ball he threw all season. And he didn’t even step into the throw. Anyone who watched Mahomes throw fastballs on the baseball fields in East Texas knows his arm. Over 150 million watching the Super Bowl know as well. Thanks to Mahomes being mic’d up at the Super Bowl by NFL Films, a video with over one million views shows Mahomes asking Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to run the play. And head coach Andy Reid agreed. The result was a first down completion to Tyreek Hill that led to a touchdown, cutting the lead to 20-17. Mahomes would then lead KC on two more scoring drives and a 31-20 victory. But the play was the reason for a 21-point outburst in the last seven minutes. Mahomes told the national media after the game, his football coach at Whitehouse, Adam Cook, was the first to “let me be who I am” and that confidence in Mahomes carried on to Texas Tech to coach Kliff Kingsbury and the NFL under Reid. As a play went under review, Mahomes asked Bieniemy to run the “wasp” play, which has three wide
receivers on one side, running three different ways. It appeared Mahomes was told the play was designed for a shorter yardage situation and maybe on a first down. “What are we thinking (for a play call)? Do we have time to run wasp?” asked Mahomes. “We run it 1stand-10, Any down and distance, I don’t care.” Mahomes had run the play against the Patriots the year before in the AFC championship game for a first down, but he completed the pass with zero pressure from the New England defensive line. In the Super Bowl, the 49ers were putting tremendous pressure on Mahomes all game.
Kansas City Chief quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) passes the ball during a play in the last minute of Super Bowl LIV action against the San Fransisco 49ers. (Cara Campbell/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
Sure enough, Mahomes could not step into the throw with DeForrest Bucker and Joey Bosa coming at him. He had been knocked down all game. He knew he would be hit again, but wanted to run the play. It was time for “tre right, three jet chip wasp.” Mahomes then started pumping up his teammates. “Believe baby, believe baby, we got it baby, let’s do it, let’s do it, let’s do it baby ... do something special,” said Mahomes. The 24-year-old quarterback turned to Hill just before they broke the huddle and said, “you get open ... you be working.” He had four seconds to get the throw off. He dropped back 14 yards to give himself that fraction of a second longer. Sure enough, there was Buckner at 6-foot-7 with 287 pounds of muscle drilling Mahomes in the ribs and dropping him to the ground. But Mahomes, who would have been sacked if he took a step to throw, chucked the ball in the air, looking like a fly ball over a left field fence. Into the arms of Hill. First down and the smiles and confidence on the faces of the San Francisco 49ers players and coaches went away. “The guys around him believed him, we all did .. he kept firing,” said Hill. “It was Pat being Pat ... he said to believe.” Mahomes may have been hit, but he made sure he gave credit to his line. “We got good protection by the offensive line,” he said. “They gave me enough time, and I put it out there and Tyreek made a great play.” Mahomes then raced down the sidelines and yelled to his teammates, “It’s not over! Let’s get it, it’s not over, go get it, go get it!” They did. Super Bowl champions. John Anderson is the editor of the Tyler Morning Telegraph. He can be reached at janderson@tylerpaper.com
Congratulations!
Patrick
and the Chiefs!
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From watching the draft in East Texas to Super Bowl MVP
Same family & friends along for the ride FROM STAFF, WIRE REPORTS April 27, 2017 seems like yesterday. However, that was the day in East Texas Patrick Mahomes said, “I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City, here I come.” Mahomes didn’t break out into the old Wilbert Harrison song, but it would have been fitting. On that date in 2017, Mahomes, the strong-armed gunslinger quarterback from Whitehouse, was the 10th overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 82nd annual NFL Draft. Mahomes was actually in Tyler that day and told the Tyler Morning Telegraph, “This is such an awesome feeling. It is unbelievable. Growing up, you see guys going in the draft and you dream about it. I can’t put into words what this means. ... Everyone who knows me knows I will take Texas Tech, Whitehouse and East Texas to the NFL with me.” On draft day, Mahomes was surrounded by his mother Randi, father Pat, brother Jackson and sister Mia, girlfriend Brittany Matthews as well as grandparents and a host of others including Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, Whitehouse coach Adam Cook, Little League coach Chad Parker and his father’s coach at Lindale, Mike Smith. His agent, Leigh Steinberg was also on hand. Mahomes took the call from Kansas City coach Andy Reid and then talked with other members of the Chiefs front office. “It is exciting to get to work with such a successful NFL coach,” Mahomes said. And work he did. On Sunday, at the Super Bowl, there were 100-year-old war veterans at midfield for the pregame coin flip, a 50-years-young pop diva handling halftime, and, of course, Mahomes, who turns 25 this year saving the best part of the show for last. It is easy, especially after the improbable, blink-and-you-miss-it escape act he engineered to win the title Sunday, to say Mahomes — a mobile, dual threat with a rocket arm — is what the perfect quarterback will look like as the NFL gets ready to embark on its second century of football next season. But what Mahomes did in Miami was grounded in the most basic of sports concepts, one that harkens to the days of leather helmets and long bus rides to the games. He injected life into a stymied offense that looked all but done-for, coaxed three touchdowns out of that offense over the short span of 5 minutes, 1 second late in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 31-20 victory over San Francisco in a game that seemed all but lost. Three times during this postseason, Mahomes and the Chiefs have trailed by 10 points or more, and all three times they’ve come back to win by double-digits themselves. That’s a first. But even that history-mak-
ing feat doesn’t do justice to what Mahomes pulled off in the final game of the NFL’s much-celebrated centennial. After Mahomes threw the first postseason interception of his three-year-old career —”I hit him right between the ‘5’ and the ‘4,” he said of the pick to linebacker Fred Warner — the 49ers drove 55 methodical yards to take a 20-10 lead. There was 2:35 left on in the third quarter and the Chiefs, used to buzzing up and down the field to the tune of 51 and 35 points in the two earlier games this postseason, had gained 187 yards and amassed only 136 passing. They had scored a measly touchdown and a field goal and hadn’t cracked a single play longer than 19 yards. “I wasn’t feeling good about it at all,” said receiver Tyreek Hill, who would soon prove critical in turning around the game. “I told Pat, ‘It’s 20-10 with seven minutes left — c’mon bro,’ And all Pat did, he just told me to believe.” Hill believed. And he started running. Up against a defense that had allowed a total of eight completions on downfield throws all season, the receiver with track-star speed somehow found a soft spot deep in the 49ers secondary. Mahomes, harassed all night into quick, off-target throws, dropped 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage, surveyed the field — then stepped up and heaved it. The ball dropped soft as a feather into Hill’s arms. Four plays later, Kansas City, only moments earlier thinking of concession speeches, was within three points. There was 6:13 left in the game. “I’m not sure exactly what happened,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said, when asked to reflect on the play that swung the momentum. It had been 50 years since their team last appeared in, and won, the Super Bowl. Mahomes, the quarterback who coach Andy Reid handpicked and traded away draft picks to get, was supposed to change all that. “We knew it would be a close game, and there would be some challenges,” Reid said. “He kept firing. That’s what he did. The guys around him just believed in him. We all did.” After the touchdown that made it 20-17, it took all of three plays for the Chiefs defense to get the ball back to Mahomes. On the next possession, he struck for another long play — this one to receiver Sammy Watkins who torched the 49ers premier defensive back, Richard Sherman, at the line of scrimmage and got behind him for the easiest 38-yard catch he’ll ever make. Three plays later, it was 24-20. Less than 90 seconds after that, it was 31-20, and long-suffering Kansas City had won the Super Bowl. Mahomes was awarded the MVP of the
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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Partick Mahomes (15) flexes from the field toward his childhood friends in the stands after leading his team to a Super Bowl LIV Championship win over the San Fransisco 49ers Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Cara Campbell/Tyler Morning Telegraph) game and hugged his family, everyone who was with him when he was drafted. He then wrestled away from the media throng to point to his friends, Ryan Cheatham, Jaylon Dews, Coleman Patterson, Jake Parker and others who were near the tunnel and then he flexed. He pointed to Cook, who was in a seat Kingsbury gifted to him. Cook is now the athletic director at Whitehouse. It’s amazing how the friendships have lasted. Patterson and Parker went on to join Mahomes on the Texas Tech football team, while Dews played at Southern Arkansas and Ryan Cheatham chose the baseball path where he helped Tyler Junior College and UT Tyler to national championships. The friends all played Little League, Little Dribblers and select baseball together and in high school it was all about Wildcat football, basketball and baseball. “We first became friends (in elementary school),” Patterson said. “In high school, athletics is different from Little League and Little Dribblers. You are together everyday, hour after hour, traveling together. It was football, basketball, baseball every year.” Parker added, “At first, Patrick was going to school at All Saints and I was going to school in Tyler. We were 9 or 10 years old when we became friends and our families moved to Whitehouse. We played on the Junior League World Series team that went to Taylor, Michigan. We won the United States
championship before we lost to Chinese Taipei. “I remember growing up around Patrick’s dad (Pat Mahomes), and thinking how cool it was, this guy played in the Major Leagues,” he said. Patterson added, “I really hadn’t thought of Patrick going to the pros until our sophomore year at Tech when we beat Arkansas (the Red Raiders won 35-24 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Mahomes hit on 26 of 30 passing attempts). I knew he had the talent and I thought now this is for real. Then it was wow, OK, he’s going to make it.” Coleman remembered, “We always credit growing up in East Texas, having great role models and believing in team, not individualis. That’s what Patrick is all about. Lubbock, Texas, is a humble, hard-working community. Tyler and Whitehouse are humble, hard-working, team-oriented communities. The values of team and hard work were instilled there. We were lucky to grow up surrounded by role models who instilled us with this belief system. You look at athletes in Tyler and Whitehouse, they are never ‘me, me, me,’ it is always ‘team, team, team.” Parker said, “It’s great to get to go to the Super Bowl and look out there and your buddy is playing.” And their buddy looked in the stands and felt the same way. Story by Phil Hicks, from 2017 and 2020 with additional reporting from the Associated Press
Congratulations to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on their incredible Super Bowl victory.
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Mahomes leads Ch iefs to
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FROM FRONT LEFT, friends Dakota Bonner, Keilan Tuck, and Karli Finch watch Super Bowl LIV at the Oil Palace on Sunday.
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Yes He Did! Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes hoists the trophy after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Super Bowl LIV football game Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
SUPER BOWL EDITION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2020 TYLERPAPER.COM JOHN ANDERSON janderson@tylerpaper.com
MIAMI - The last time the nation saw Patrick Mahomes, he was riding around in a golf cart, doing a victory lap at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Mahomes, a Whitehouse native, was named Super Bowl MVP after leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a come-from-behind, 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. He was wearing a gray Super Bowl champion T-shirt over his jersey and shoulder pads as he waved to the crowd. When he ducked into the tunnel to celebrate with his teammates, he also had his post-game media obligations and, more important, his post-game celebration with family and friends. With eyes screaming no sleep, Mahomes sat quietly in a chair at 8:30 a.m. at a press conference announcing the Tampa team taking over the Super Bowl for next year. Then he watched Chiefs coach Andy Reid talk to the media.
Not done yet: Mahomes says he wants to win another one To his right was NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and to his left were Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who would talk about Mahomes going to Disney World for a parade and Make-A-Wish visit. Wearing a red Chiefs “Show Time” T-shirt, black pants and sneakers, he finally looked relaxed. Despite sitting next to one of the most powerful men in the world and sports, despite having 148.5 million people watching him on TV the night before and now facing the press again as MVP, he thought about home. Whitehouse, Tyler and East Texas became household names for reporters all week in Miami, and those questions continued on Monday. Writers from Chicago, Miami and ESPN all asked about his roots. One reporter asked, “You had a few of your high school friends here and your high school coach here. Did you feel that removed from Whitehouse, Texas? You have that connection.” Mahomes, who it seems graduated from Whitehouse yesterday and is now the reigning NFL MVP, said, “I’ve been blessed to be in great communities,
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Mahomes wins Super Bowl MVP, Whitehouse on national stage Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV MVP Patrick Mahomes (15) speaks on his high school football experience in Whitehouse playing powerhouse rival teams like John Tyler High School during a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Miami Hotel in Miami. (Cara Campbell/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
growing up in Whitehouse, Texas, then going to Lubbock, Texas, and now in Kansas City.” He then talked about his friends who sat in the front row of the tunnel entrance, almost giving him a sense of home as he ran on and off the field. Also in the stands was former Whitehouse football coach Adam Cook (now the Whitehouse athletic director). “I’ve been around a lot of great people who have supported me all the way through,” said Mahomes, then turning to the reporter, “You said it, I had my high school coach here, I have a lot of my high school friends at the game and they showed me support all the way through and I’m glad they were here for this moment.” Mahomes was asked about his first-ever comeback playing football. He talked about a victory over “powerhouse John Tyler,” and added, “It’s where Earl Campbell went to high school!” He talked about competition and playing to the final whistle. Mahomes was also asked about his unique quarterback style, and he said he’s been blessed to play
for Cook and tied it into his current coach, Reid. “I’ve been blessed, I mean, even from high school with coach Cook, letting me be who I am, letting me scramble around, throw the ball, do what I do then going to Texas Tech and coach Kliff Kingsbury, same way,” Mahomes said. He said his quarterback coaches at Kansas City work on fundamentals, but they are “still letting me be who I am and I think that having all those coaches that have supported me and let me be who I am has helped me get to where I’m at today.” Who he is? A small-town kid who made his town famous thanks to his performance and a couple Adidas commercials. He was finally asked, “What can you do to top this?” His tired eyes opened wide as he answered, “Win another one. I mean, that’s it.” With that, he rushed off the Disney World in Orlando, another reminder he’s still that kid from Whitehouse. John Anderson is the editor of the Tyler Morning Telegraph. He can be reached at janderson@tylerpaper.com
Left: Adam Cook, Patrick Mahomes’ high school football coach at Whitehouse High School, sits in the stands to cheer Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on during Super Bowl LIV action against the San Fransisco 49ers. Whitehouse High School alumni sit for a photo before cheering on their former classmate and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Pictured from left are Jake Parker, Zach Parker, Ryan Cheatham, Brennan McDaniel, Chestley Strother and Coleman Patterson. (Cara Campbell/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
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