Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is eager to start the season and ready to challenge the rest of the NFL for a third consecutive Super Bowl title.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is eager to get the season started in search of a record third consecutive Super Bowl title.
Mahomes showed up to training camp at Missouri Western University, a Division II school in St. Joseph, Mo., four days early when he joined the rookies at training camp this week. Mahomes and other veteran players were not scheduled to show up until Saturday.
However, Mahomes is determined to win another championship. He knows the team can’t get complacent because the rest of the teams are looking to knock the Chiefs off their throne.
“We are back at St. Joe’s. It’s time to get better,” Mahomes
said at a press conference on the first day of training camp when he reported with the rookies. “Every season starts different. You’ve got to come in with that same mentality you had the year before, even a higher intensity, and even though we won that Super Bowl last year, we felt like we didn’t play our best football, especially offensively. Our goal is to be better that way and come in with that mentality every single day.”
The Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII in 2023 with a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Ariz. The following year, Kansas City defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in Paradise, Nevada. Mahomes was instrumental in leading the Chiefs to those victories and was named Super Bowl MVP in both games. He is one of three players in NFL history, joining Tom Brady and Joe Montana, to have three Super Bowl victories and two MVP awards.
Mahomes was not happy with how the Chiefs played throughout the season. Kansas City won the AFC West for an eighth-consecutive year with an 11-6 record. However, Mahomes acknowledges the team needs to play much better to maintain that level of success.
“Obviously, the end result was awesome, but I mean, I think a lot of us have a weird feeling,” Mahomes
said. “I mean, we really didn’t really play football the way we wanted to play all year long, and it wasn’t fun. I mean, every single week having to try to get better and the results not paying off the way you wanted them to.
“It wasn’t a lot of fun. We have a lot of those same guys back, and they know how that felt. So, we’re going to try to prepare ourselves better this year so that we can play better throughout the season,” Mahomes told the media at training camp.
Last year, Mahomes
threw for 4,183 yards and 27 touchdowns. The Chiefs had playoff victories over the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and top-seeded Baltimore Ravens en route to their fourth Super Bowl in five years. The championships have added pressure because Mahomes does not want to relinquish being the NFL’s best team.
Even though the victories are sweet, the losses hurt more. Mahomes’ Kansas City team lost to Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9 in Super Bowl LV.
The Chiefs are the
favorites to win another Super Bowl this season, followed by the 49ers, Ravens, and Detroit Lions. No team in NFL
history has won three straight Super Bowls.
“Once you win the Super Bowl, I feel like, even to another extreme, when you don’t win it, it sucks even more because you experience the offseason of being able to say you are the champ and being able to experience all of the things and activities because you are a Super Bowl champ,” Mahomes
said at the Tuesday press conference. “You experience the feeling of just winning the Super Bowl.”
In addition to getting ready for the season, Mahomes showed up early to build camaraderie with his teammates. Those tight relationships go a long way in securing victories during the regular season. The NFL season can be stressful, so investing in friendships with teammates goes a long way with enduring certain challenges on the playing field, according to Mahomes.
“When you are all in this together, every single step of the way, you have to build friendships or you are going to hate each other every step of the way,” Mahomes
said. “You build friendships and you go to a lot of places to eat, either on campus or you are eating at different places around the city. Then, you go to practice, and you can talk about it after. It’s not like you are going your own way or back home. We talk about what we can do to make each other better.”
However, training camp is not all business. Mahomes makes sure he has outlets to take his mind off the game for a few hours. This year, Mahomes is more prepared for training camp than ever. He brought a television with him so he could play EA College Football and watch the Paris Olympics.
“This is the first year I’m bringing a TV,” Mahomes
added. “I brought a TV for NCAA and the Olympics.”
