At Halftime, Patrick Mahomes Got a Little Tape and Gave a Little Talk

Mahomes’s performance on a tender ankle throughout the playoffs is perhaps more impressive than the gaudy statistics he has put up in his first five years as a starter.

At just 27, he has won two Super Bowls and was named the Most Valuable Player in both. Mahomes was named the NFL’s M.V.P. for a second time this season. He has been All-Pro three times and chosen for five Pro Bowls. Twice, he has led the league in touchdowns, and he set a record of 5,614 passing, rushing and receiving yards in a season.

“M-V-Pat,” Travis Kelce, one of his favorite targets, has crowned him, with good reason: “He’s going to be the best to ever do it when it’s all said and done and is the best to do it right now.”

Mahomes indeed grew up in a locker room, shadowing his father, Pat, in Major League Baseball clubhouses throughout his 11-year career as a pitcher. He is a gym rat who understands the dynamics of a community of athletes and knows chemistry is the difference between good and great.

Immediately after returning to the locker room after the victory, Mahomes, still in his pads, spent nearly 10 minutes shaking hands and hugging every single teammate and coach.

He was more frustrated than angry with his teammates at halftime — the Eagles had effectively kept the ball out of his hands in the first half, gobbling up more than 21 minutes, or two thirds, of the clock.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/sports/football/mahomes-super-bowl-ankle.html