Patrick Mahomes again credits Alex Smith after Chiefs’ latest Super Bowl win
Mahomes #Mahomes
GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s been five years since Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith were teammates during Mahomes’ rookie season with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017, but Mahomes is still thankful for what Smith taught him during their one season together.
During Sunday’s Super Bowl postgame press conference following Kansas City’s 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, Mahomes was asked about breaking in a new group of Chiefs receivers this season.
He used that opportunity to reflect on the leadership skills he’s been developing as the face of the franchise, and mentioned Smith in the process.
“I’ve always vocally talked but I had to take the next step in my leadership ability of how I showed guys how we work and how I couldn’t let the little stuff slide because we have such great players around me that have done it for so long. I had to teach the culture that we have here, that I learned from Alex Smith and Derrick Johnson,” Mahomes said.
“I had to teach those guys the culture of how we work and do things. Luckily for me, I have guys like Travis (Kelce), Frank (Clark) and Chris (Jones) that help me out with that as well. I was proud of those guys, and how they responded in this big game.”
Mahomes similarly credited Smith for his mentorship after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl back in 2020.
“He texted me right after the game, saying he enjoyed it just as much as we did,” Mahomes told ESPN after that Super Bowl win. “He wasn’t there, but he was part of it — I think that’s the biggest thing. He built the culture that I came into. He was the guy that led the team to all these successful seasons and built that winning culture.”
Smith, the former Utah quarterback who’s now an ESPN NFL analyst and was on-site at Sunday’s Super Bowl, mentored Mahomes during his rookie season with the Chiefs.
Since then, Mahomes has gone on to win two Super Bowl championships with Kansas City and head coach Andy Reid. He was the Super Bowl MVP during both wins, and is also a two-time NFL MVP.