Patrick Mahomes: The Build-A-Bear Way

Laddie Morse

If you were going to build the perfect NFL quarterback, the first thing you’d have to decide would be, which team and coach he was going to play for. Since all we care about here in Kansas City, is Kansas City — that is, when it comes to football — then the answer is, the Kansas City Chiefs. Next, you’d have to have a great QB on the field... of course you would (more on that later). Then you have to stuff him full of that good ole down home charm and genuineness that only a guy like Len Dawson could show you.

Well, with Patrick Mahomes, it’s check, check, and check again. In fact, you can check all you want but this guy is the real deal and maybe we should have known a lot sooner than now (I think we did), but every move he makes, on and off the field, appears to be the right one(s).

Big Arm

First, our made-up QB must have a big arm. No. A Huge arm. The best in the league. He should be able to thrown the ball out of Arrowhead Stadium. His arm should be that big.

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Leadership

Our QB would need to not only be a great leader off the field, but on the field as well.

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In Mahomes second season he led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl berth and during the interviews of Super Bowl week, he was asked what his spirit animal would be and he said:

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“I’d like to be a wolf running around with my pack…

A leader and someone who continues to attack.”

Touch

CBS Sports says it best,

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“Mahomes brings the arm strength, but perhaps even more so, he offers unmatched touch. [Aaron] Rodgers qualifies here, on occasion, but there are few quarterbacks in NFL history who’ve showcased more highlight-reel arm and body contortions — and then completed precision throws in the process. If you need someone to drop an airy floater right into the arms of a streaking receiver, he’s your guy.”

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Fearless

Our QB should be fearless and forgetful when he throws an INT. NFL.com says of Mahomes, prior to this season:

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“There’s simply no ceiling when it comes to Mahomes’ ability and where he can take this team — even without Tyreek Hill. This fall will present a new test for the 26-year-old signal-caller, but who’s going to be shocked if the Chiefs are playing in the AFC Championship Game for the fifth straight year? No one. That’s who.”

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Chris Simms on Unbuttoned said when Mahomes throws an INT — and I paraphrase — he literally forgets about it and come right back out and wails away. Mahomes likes to say, “The most important play is the next play.”

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Friendships

Mahomes is not so selfish that he can;t share the burning hot spotlight at the top. He’s not only encouraged his Head Coach, Andy Reid, to jump into a commercial with him, Hy-Vee super markets has featured his friendship with Travis Kelce in a commercial:

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Mahomes’ Competitiveness

Brett Kollmann, who beaks down NFL film for a living says:

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“Watching Patrick Mahomes throw a dime under pressure and off his back foot for a 73-yard TD in a game he’s ALREADY WINNING by three possessions is the most surefire way to feel absolutely hopeless about the future competitiveness of the AFC.”

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Kollmann also shares this video:

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Of course, K.C. fans can’t forget that OC Eric Bieniemy once called Mahomes a, “Competitive prick.” HC Andy Reid has also said, “There is no one that is more competitive than Mahomes.”

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Mahomes’ Initiative

This past offseason, when Mahomes was told the Chiefs had traded away one of his favorite targets in Tyreek Hill, he took the initiative to call all his new wide outs and meet with them to throw passes to them and begin to get some camaraderie with them.

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Smart Enough to Call His Own Play

In only Patrick Mahomes second season, he led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl, where he helped win it all. He also suggested a play to Eric Bieniemy who made sure they ran that play. The play? 2-3 Jet Chip Wasp. What Mahomes had asked him was, “Do we have time to run wasp?” They did, and the rest is history.

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Loyalty

It’s kind of hard to measure Patrick Mahomes loyalty to Kansas City when the Chiefs have paid him half a billion dollars to be here, so, we’ll have to look at his personal relationships. When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl and had a resulting ring ceremony at Arrowhead Stadium, he also got his wife-to-be (at the time), Brittany Mathews a ring of her own. A ring to say, I love you and will you marry me? To which, she said yes.

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Mahomes not only got married, they had a daughter together and named her, Sterling Skye Mahomes, who is now one year old. They are expecting again and that firmly entrenches Patrick Mahomes in our community as a family man. That’s plenty enough loyalty for me.

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Respectful and Deserving of Respect

As the Chiefs organization was preparing to move on from the speedy and highly skilled Tyreek Hill last spring, they knew they needed to keep Patrick Mahomes informed and updated, because he was deserving of that kind of respect. ESPN revealed that GM Brett Veach had said,

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“We show him the ultimate amount of respect, and I think he appreciates that. I don’t think that there was ever a moment — and this is whether this is our free agency plan or our draft plan, certainly the Tyreek Hill situation — that we ever neglected that relationship. I just think it makes too much sense when you have a guy that is not just the face of this organization but in many ways the face of the NFL.”

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Voice of Choice

Perhaps the one aspect of Patrick Mahomes that is not perfect is… his voice. He’s been teased by his teammates — mostly during year one — that he had a voice like Kermit the Frog of the Muppets. While his voice has matured to a degree, he still poses the leadership qualities needed to lead this team to many championships. To quote comedienne Michelle Wolf, “You don’t get to pick your own voice.”

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Summary

While there are many more qualities we could speak to with Patrick Mahomes. Qualities like: Integrity, Reliability, and Adaptability, we also know he has plenty of Enthusiasm for his teammates and the game. If we could put together an ideal QB, just like we put together a Build-A-Bear, he’d probably look a whole lot like Patrick Mahomes! How fortunate we have been, are, and will continue to be.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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