Patrick Mahomes Becomes Youngest Player To Win Regular Season & Super Bowl MVP Awards

Patrick Mahomes continued to prove why he is one of the greatest young talents the NFL has ever seen after winning his first Super Bowl title and capturing the Super Bowl MVP award Sunday. At the age of 24, Mahomes became the youngest player in NFL history to be named a regular season and Super Bowl MVP. Mahomes was 26-42 for 286 yards with three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), two interceptions and a 78.6 passer rating. He became the only quarterback other than Tom Brady (Super Bowl XLIX) and Terry Bradshaw (XIV) to win Super Bowl MVP despite throwing multiple interceptions.

He helped orchestrate the second largest comeback in Super Bowl history after trailing the 49ers by 10 going into the fourth quarter. On 3rd down and 15, Mahomes found Tyreke Hill downfield for a 44-yard pass that helped setup Kansas City in the redzone. Four plays later, he hooked up with a wide open Travis Kelce in the endzone cutting the deficit to just three. During the next drive Mahomes brought his team down the field with a seven-play, 65-yard drive that setup a five yard touchdown pass to Damien Williams giving the Chiefs a 24-20 lead.

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“The third quarter didn’t go the way I wanted it to,” Mahomes told ESPN after holding up the Lombardi Trophy. “I tried to force some things and got some turnovers. But the guys believed in me and gave me confidence to try and find my way at the end.”

The Chiefs capped off the score with a defensive stand that saw the 49ers turn the ball over on downs and their offense followed that up with a 38-yard touchdown run by Williams to ice the game at 31-20 with just over a minute left to play.

Discussing his team’s willingness to fight back from being down by 10 going into the fourth quarter, Mahomes told ESPN, “It’s this team. We have heart. Coach [Andy Reid] pushes us to be the best people we can be and never give up. I knew we weren’t in the ideal situation. I believed in my defense to get stops, and they did. Then the guys kept believing in me and kept making plays downfield, and we found a way to win.”

Mahomes continued with a smile on his face, “I’ve been waiting to say it my whole life: I’m going to Disney World.”

“It’s like watching Denzel [Washington] in a movie. It’s like watching LeBron James in the playoffs,” Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “He has that spark. For him to be that young and to find the confidence to do what he did against a special defense, that tells you everything you need to know about that man.”

Adding to the joyous victory, Chiefs coach Andy Reid finally received his first Super Bowl ring after maintaining the best coaching record in the league without a championship. He credited Mahomes’ motivation to never give up.

“He kept firing, that’s what he did. The guys around him just believed in him. It was just — we all did, all the coaches, likewise. And then our defense had a couple of great stands in there. We knew it would be a close game, and it felt that way. We knew there would be challenges to battle through, and nobody lost their poise, they just kept rolling, so I was proud of everybody there.”

Mahomes also provided words of inspiration for prospective athletes around the world. “The best thing about it is you’re showing kids that no matter where you grow up, what race you are, that you can achieve your dream. For me, being a black quarterback — having a black dad and a white mom — it just shows that it doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter if you’re a baseball player or basketball player, follow your dreams. Whatever your dreams are, put the work ethic in and you can be there at the end of the day.”

Article by Frank DeLorenzo