Before Patrick Mahomes can win Chiefs’ QB job, he must win over his teammates

[Tribal Warfare]

Before Patrick Mahomes can win Chiefs’ QB job, he must win over his teammates

BY TEREZ A. PAYLOR
tpaylor@kcstar.com


The Ford F-250 rumbled down the Texas highway, bound for Carrrollton. Inside, a very serious conversation was taking place.

It was Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016, and Patrick Mahomes sat on the passenger side, trying to decide whether he should turn pro. The day before, the 21-year-old quarterback lit up Baylor for six touchdown passes, leading Texas Tech to a season-ending 54-35 victory at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

The performance capped a junior season in which Mahomes raised his draft stock with prodigious arm strength, creativity and eye-popping stats. The promise of immediate fame and money would have made the decision to turn pro easy for some, but LaTroy Hawkins, the man in the driver’s seat, knew better.


Hawkins, 44, carved out a 21-year career in Major League Baseball by being a consummate professional on and off the field. That’s part of the reason Mahomes’ father, Patrick Mahomes Sr. — an 11-year big-league veteran and former teammate of Hawkins’ — named Hawkins Patrick’s godfather. Both Mahomeses trust his counsel.

So when Hawkins made it clear the decision of whether to go pro should come down to one specific question, Mahomes listened intently.

“Are you really ready to lead men?” Hawkins asked. “If Alshon Jeffery is coming into the huddle, talking about ‘Get me the damn ball,’ how are you going to defuse that situation?’ He’s got a family to feed.

“How are you going to get him to understand you’re going to do your best to get him the damn ball?”

Patrick thought about it for a second and replied that he was sure he could handle it; he’d find a way to get Jeffery the ball without compromising the integrity of the team’s upcoming plays. Hawkins noticed that Patrick said this in the same confident drawl he used a few years earlier, when he became the starter at Texas Tech and promised he would thrive.

“He just had that confidence like, ‘Godfather and Pops, you know that when I put my mind to it, there’s nothing I can’t do,’” Hawkins recalled.

Hawkins was satisfied with the response. But before Patrick could win an NFL starting job and achieve his dreams, Hawkins cautioned, he would first have to win the trust of the organization he landed with. Doing so would require humility (to win over the coaching staff), confidence and authenticity (to win over the locker room) and results on the field (to win over both).

Eight months later, Mahomes’ new coaches and teammates in Kansas City are saying he’s doing all those things and more during his apprenticeship behind starter Alex Smith.

“He’s got a good way about him,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He’s respectful, but he’s not in awe. And in that position, that’s pretty important. You’ll be representing a billion-dollar organization in the community and the locker room, and how you handle that is pretty important.”

Brad Childress has been around the NFL enough — 19 years now — to know what he likes in a rookie quarterback

“I want to see them be seen and not heard,” said Childress, the Chiefs’ assistant head coach and Reid’s right-hand man. “I want them to be sponges ... and not know-it-alls, and not trying to finish your sentence for you in (meetings).”

Mahomes quickly impressed Childress with his studious habits in those team meetings.

“He’s a big note-taker,” Childress said. “If you say something, he writes it down. He’s not sitting there with the (notebook) shut.”

In those meetings, Reid or offensive coordinator Matt Nagy might ask Mahomes where his eyes are at on a given play, and why. They expect honest, detailed answers, and Mahomes obliges with no complaints, even when they’re correcting his footwork, delivery or decision-making.

“There’s some guys that bow up,” Childress said. “And I don’t see any of that in him.”

This has allowed Mahomes to improve in many areas quickly, from large (like his ability to process concepts and spit out Reid’s wordy playcalls) to small (such as his ability to receive the snap cleanly under center, something he rarely did in college).

But winning over the coaches with his humility and hard work is one thing. Winning over his teammates? That requires an authenticity rookies don’t always show.

“You better respect the guys that are already there,” Mahomes Sr. recalled telling his son. “Don’t come in thinking you’re a hotshot, thinking you’re better than somebody else or that you’ve earned something when you’re just starting.

“Once you start doing stuff the right way, that’s how you gain respect.”

During a recent Chiefs team meeting, center Mitch Morse and right tackle Mitch Schwartz heard a long, cracking sound nearby.

Schwartz turned his head and saw Mahomes crushing gobs of sunflower seeds at a time and making lot of noise doing it.

“Hey,” Schwartz said to Morse, “have you noticed how loud Mahomes is?”

The next day, the two busted Mahomes’ chops about it. Mahomes laughed and told them he’d stop eating the seeds until they were out of the room next time.

Thanks to his father and godfather, Mahomes had been in enough pro-sports locker rooms to know how to handle a little razzing.

“Don’t take anything too personal,” Mahomes said. “Just be one of the guys and have fun.”

Morse looks back on the moment now and chuckles.

“He’s a loud eater — he’s always making noises, and we give hell for that,” Morse said with a smile. “But he fits in real well. He’s not timid and he’s easy to talk to, and that goes a long way. He’s not sensitive at all.”

Mahomes’ easy-going personality has also made an impression on Smith, who knows how hard it can be for a rookie quarterback to fit in.

When Smith was a newly minted No. 1 overall pick in 2005, he was thrust into a starting position at age 21: the same age Mahomes is now. Too often, Smith found himself playing a part, trying to be what he thought his teammates wanted him to be, instead of who he is.

“Then I had coaches telling me, ‘You’ve got to be this type of leader, and you’ve got to be a vocal guy,’” Smith said. “But I think it’s better to just be natural and let him be who he is.

“I think he’s done that, and he’s handled it the right way ... he seems to be comfortable with who he is.”

But for all his intangible strengths, ultimately there will come a time when Mahomes’ performance on the playing field will determine whether he truly holds the trust of those around him.

Good thing for Mahomes that one of his strongest traits — creativity — will have a direct impact on that.

Chiefs receivers coach Greg Lewis has been retired as a player for seven years now. But he still marvels at some of the plays made by his former quarterback in Philadelphia, Donovan McNabb.

One time, back in 2004, McNabb scrambled around against Dallas and threw it a mile downfield to Freddie Mitchell for a 60-yard gain that lasted 14 seconds from beginning to end and was born completely out of McNabb’s creativity.

“Wasn’t even close to the play-call,” Lewis said.

Plays like that can suck the life from a defense. Mahomes, teammate and coaches say, has already made a number of cross-body throws on the move in practice that have deflated the defense in a similar fasion.

“There’s some people that can create those steps and can’t get it where it needs to go,” Childress said. “But he can throw it from a number of different spots, platforms and arm positions, and he has a downfield mentality when he does that.”

Lewis and cornerbacks coach Al Harris agreed.

“I’ve seen his college tape, and he made some miraculous throws,” Lewis said. “We’ve seen some of them out here ... he hasn’t disappointed in that area.”

“You guys have been watching, man,” Harris said of Mahomes. “I think they made the right choice (in drafting Mahomes).”

It should be noted that all three assistant coaches — Childress, Harris and Lewis — credited Smith for making some similar throws in camp. The 33-year old has been decisive and aggressive, and his command of the offense is unquestioned — as is his current hold on the starting job.

For all his desirable attributes and on-field creativity — Mahomes still has much to learn about running Reid’s offense. For now, as he explained to Hawkins over a recent dinner, he’s honored to be taking an advanced course from Smith.

Mahomes loved Texas Tech, but he has zero regrets about his decision to leave early and turn pro.

“I knew I loved this game,” Mahomes explained, “and I knew the guys would respect me for how hard I worked and how much I bought in.”

[MahiMike]

Wood.

[Rasputin]

Him giving guys opportunity to make plays is going win this team over.

[DJJasonp]

I think he won his teammates over the first day of camp when receivers were actually hit in-stride with accurate passes.

Everything else is icing on the cake.

[NJChiefsFan]

Small sample size but his dad seems like he put a good head on his shoulders.

[Marcellus]

Really really hard ot not be very excited about this kid. It seems to good to be true at this point.

[BigRedChief]

It all sounds good. I hope we finally got our franchise QB. Just worried it's a pipe dream because, Chiefs.

[Mile High Mania]

I sense a second coming of the Elway hype (to a degree in KC)... are reporters going to have stories on the type of candy he hands out at Halloween as well?

I totally get the excitement over the kid and hope he works out, looks like he can be a fun one to watch and it would be nice to see a QB come from that type of offense in college and really have sustained success in the NFL.

Just curious how long the fans can really temper their enthusiasm and if it wall remain realistic through the final year of Alex Smith. Part of me would say "throw him out there, this season is a waste anyway with Alex". Sure, maybe you win another 11-12 games, best case... expectations can't truly be too high though, otherwise, there would be little optimism for the kid.

It's going to be an interesting year and every week, a new 3-4 'start the rookie' threads are destined to crop up on CP. Best of luck to you guys.

This season is going to be complete hell for Alex, he could have the best of his career and nobody in KC will care...

[Beef Supreme]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

This season is going to be complete hell for Alex, he could have the best of his career and nobody in KC will care...

He just had the best season of his career last year.

And we drafted his replacement.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by BigChiefTablet

He just had the best season of his career last year.

And we drafted his replacement.

well played sir.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by BigChiefTablet

He just had the best season of his career last year.

And we drafted his replacement.

Exactly.....

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by BigChiefTablet

He just had the best season of his career last year.

And we drafted his replacement.

TD/INT ratio was bad (if that's supposed to be his best year) ... guess it was the most yards and good completion %, either way, that even furthers the point. There's nothing good that Alex can do to really quiet the noise for the rookie... it's all downhill for him this year and that's going to suck for him, which will suck for the team potentially. We'll see how he handles all that insanity.

[cooper barrett]

I am all for Alex11 but the simple facts (see below) is that he has not played at a level to make us a championship team, ever! Coaching has prodded him hard this pre-season to raise to the calling and become a passer and a playmaker. They drafted one in PMll15! If he doesn't set a course for 500 offensive points and projected at over 450 for the season (Chiefs were 335? in 2016) than I am, all for his replacement as soon as PMll15 can take over.

He has to make more TD passes and set up more rushing TD opportunities or Alex11 deserves a seat on the bench and the curb at end of the year. Advantage:$20.6M cap reduction.

Wouldn't it be ironic if PMll15 led us to the a Super Bowl win and Alex11 has to live with the fact that PMll15 got it for him. Talk about a twist on SF and Kaepernick losing it for him in 2013 by failing to throw a TD pass in 3 attempts.

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

TD/INT ratio was bad (if that's supposed to be his best year) ... guess it was the most yards and good completion %, either way, that even furthers the point. There's nothing good that Alex can do to really quiet the noise for the rookie... it's all downhill for him this year and that's going to suck for him, which will suck for the team potentially. We'll see how he handles all that insanity.

Alex11 has only 15 TD passes (worst of his KC Career) in 2016 but as a team we looked pretty decent in the rushing TD category with a respectable 15. COUGH
****We had a league high 8 TD's from Defense and kick returns******

We ranked 15th in TD's for the league with 42 (45 in 2015)
Rushing 15 ranking us 13th (19 in 2015 ranked tied for #1)
Passing 19* ranked 24th (26th in 2015)
*Alex11 15 = Foles 3 and Poe 1 , Maclin 0)

Defense and special teams 8 rank 1 (up 3 thanks to Mr. Hill's kick returns)
COMPARED TO NFL CHAMPS

New England 51 tied for3rd (2015 52 TD's ranked 3rd)

Rushing 19 ranked 5 (-4) (2015 14 ranked 11th)
Passing 32 ranked 6 (-13) (2015 36 ranked 1)
defense and ST 0 last (+8) (2015 2 ranked in the 20's)

[Sandy Vagina]

Originally Posted by cooper barrett

I am all for Alex11 but the simple facts (see below) is that he has not played at a level to make us a championship team, ever!

I love how it took this one 3 preseason games to flip-flop for the masses.

#peerpressure4thewin

[PAChiefsGuy]

Originally Posted by BigChiefTablet

He just had the best season of his career last year.

And we drafted his replacement.

Last year wasn't even close to being his best season.

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

This season is going to be complete hell for Alex, he could have the best of his career and nobody in KC will care...

I really don't think it'll be hell for Smitty. It's all about winning. He doesn't care if fans care about his season or not. He has never been a fan favorite here in KC, never was in SF either. He is used to it. He knows how to block out the crowd by now and he also knows he is more than likely gone next year so why would he care is fans in KC like him or not?

His style of play is not what most fans want to see. He knows this but he also knows what style is most effective for him. He plays to win and goes home to his family. If fans like him great, if not, that's OK too. It's his job to go out there and win games not be a fan favorite...