Patrick Lavon Mahomes II (born September 17, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He is the son of former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Pat Mahomes. He initially played college football and college baseball at Texas Tech University. Following his sophomore year, he quit baseball to focus solely on football. In his junior year, he led all NCAA Division I FBS players in multiple categories including passing yards (5,052 yards) and total touchdowns (53 touchdowns). He then entered the 2017 NFL Draft where he was the tenth overall selection by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mahomes spent his rookie season as the backup to Alex Smith. After the Chiefs traded Smith to the Washington Redskins the following season, Mahomes was named the starter. That season, Mahomes threw for 5,097 yards, 50 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He became the only quarterback in history to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season in both college and the NFL. He also joined Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history to throw 50 touchdown passes and 5,000 yards in a single season. For his performance in his first season as starter, he was named to the Pro Bowl, named First Team All-Pro, and won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year and NFL Most Valuable Player awards. Mahomes, along with Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton, and Steve McNair, is one of only four African-American quarterbacks to win the AP MVP award.
During the 2019–20 playoffs, Mahomes led the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIV, their first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years, where they defeated the San Francisco 49ers for their first Super Bowl victory since 1970. Mahomes was awarded the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player for his performance, becoming the second African-American quarterback to win the award after Doug Williams, and youngest overall. He is the third African-American quarterback after Doug Williams and Russell Wilson and the second youngest quarterback (24 years and 138 days) after Ben Roethlisberger (23 years and 320 days) to win the Super Bowl. In 2020, Mahomes signed a 10-year contract extension worth $477 million with another $26 million in potential bonuses, for a total of $503 million, the biggest contract in the history of North American sports and professional sports.
Mahomes was named to Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2020.
Early years
Mahomes was born in Tyler, Texas, to parents Pat Mahomes, then an MLB pitcher, and Randi Mahomes on September 17, 1995. Mahomes attended Whitehouse High School in Whitehouse, Texas. He played football, baseball, and basketball. He believes that training pitching and playing basketball also improved his quarterback throwing skills. In football, he had 4,619 passing yards, 50 passing touchdowns, 948 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns as a senior. In baseball, he threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts in a game his senior year. He was named the Maxpreps Male Athlete of the Year for 2013–2014.
Mahomes was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star football recruit and was ranked as the 12th best dual-threat quarterback in his class. He committed to Texas Tech University. Mahomes was also a top prospect for the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, but was not expected to be selected high due to his commitment to Texas Tech. He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 37th round of 2014 MLB Draft, but did not sign the contract.
College career
Mahomes at Texas Tech in 2014
Freshman
Mahomes entered his freshman season as a backup to Davis Webb. Mahomes saw his first career action against Oklahoma State after Webb left the game with an injury, completing two of five passes for 20 yards with one touchdown and an interception. After Webb was again injured, Mahomes started his first career game against Texas. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 109 yards in the game. Mahomes would remain the starter for the final three games after that. Against Baylor, he threw for a Big 12 freshman record 598 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. For the season, he passed for 1,547 yards and 16 touchdowns with four interceptions.
Mahomes split time with the Texas Tech baseball team, where he was a relief pitcher.
Sophomore
Mahomes began his sophomore season at Texas Tech as the starter at quarterback. In the first game of the 2015 season, Mahomes passed for 425 yards and four touchdowns in a 59–45 win over Sam Houston State University. He followed that up with a 361-yard passing performance against UTEP, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for two in Tech’s 69–20 win over the Miners. Against TCU, Mahomes passed for 392 yards and two touchdowns in the 55–52 loss. Overall, in the 2015 season, he finished with 4,653 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.
He only appeared in three games as a baseball player recording no hits in two at bats and as a pitcher he allowed three runs.
Junior
Prior to the start of the 2016 season, Mahomes announced that he was leaving the baseball team to focus on football for the entire offseason.
On October 22, 2016, Mahomes set multiple NCAA, Big 12, and school records in a 66–59 loss to Oklahoma at home. Mahomes broke the NCAA FBS records for single-game total offense with 819 yards. He also tied the NCAA record for single game passing yards with 734. He fell one short of the record for most attempts at 88. Overall, the game set NCAA records for most combined yards of total offense with 1,708 combined passing yards, and total offense by two players (the other being Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield). The 125 combined points are the second most all time involving ranked teams.
Mahomes finished the season leading the country in yards per game (421), passing yards (5,052), total offense (5,312), points responsible for (318), and total touchdowns (53). For his performance, he was awarded the Sammy Baugh Trophy, given annually to the nation’s top college passer, joining head coach Kliff Kingsbury, Graham Harrell, and B. J. Symons as other Red Raiders to have won the award. He was also named an Academic All-American 2nd Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Mahomes announced on January 3, 2017, that he would forgo his last year of college eligibility and enter the NFL Draft.
NCAA records
- Single-game yards passing: 734 (rank t-1st) (vs. Oklahoma on October 22, 2016)
- Single-game Yards total offense: 819 (rank 1st) (vs. Oklahoma on October 22, 2016)
College statistics
| Patrick Mahomes | Passing | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yards | TDs | Int |
| 2014 | Texas Tech | 7 | 105 | 185 | 56.8 | 1,547 | 16 | 4 |
| 2015 | Texas Tech | 13 | 364 | 573 | 63.5 | 4,653 | 36 | 15 |
| 2016 | Texas Tech | 12 | 388 | 591 | 65.7 | 5,052 | 41 | 10 |
| College Totals | 32 | 857 | 1,349 | 63.5 | 11,252 | 93 | 29 | |
Professional career
NFL draft
Coming out of Texas Tech, Mahomes was projected as a first or second round pick by the majority of analysts and scouts. During the throwing drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, Mahomes’ passes were clocked at 60 mph, tying Logan Thomas and Bryan Bennett for the fastest pass ever recorded at the NFL combine. Mahomes was ranked the second best quarterback by SI.com, the third best by ESPN, and the fourth best by NFLDraftScout.com After an impressive showing at the NFL Combine, representatives from 28 NFL teams were on hand to attend his pro day at Texas Tech. He became one of the fastest rising prospects during the draft process and had 18 private workouts and official team visits, which was the most for any prospect in 2017. Among the teams and coaches that he had workouts and visits with were the Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, Cincinnati Bengals quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor, and coaches from the Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
| External video | |
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 Patrick Mahomes’ NFL Combine workout |
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| Patrick Mahomes’ 40-yard dash |
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| Mahomes’ NFL Combine Press Conference |
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| Mahomes’ Texas Tech Pro Day workout |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Wonderlic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
225 lb (102 kg) |
33 1⁄4 in (0.84 m) |
9 1⁄4 in (0.23 m) |
4.80 s | 1.65 s | 2.80 s | 4.08 s | 6.88 s | 30 in (0.76 m) |
9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) |
24 | |
| All values from NFL Combine | ||||||||||||
The Kansas City Chiefs selected Mahomes in the first round (10th overall) in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Buffalo Bills traded the 10th overall pick to the Chiefs for their first round pick, third round pick, and the Chiefs’ first round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was the first quarterback selected by the Chiefs in the first round since they selected Todd Blackledge seventh overall in the 1983 NFL Draft.
| External video | |
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| Chiefs select Mahomes 10th overall |
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| Mahomes received call from Chiefs |
2017 season: Rookie year
On July 20, 2017, the Chiefs signed Mahomes to a fully guaranteed four-year, $16.42 million contract that included a signing bonus of $10.08 million.
The Chiefs announced on December 27, 2017, that with a playoff spot and the fourth seed in the playoffs secured, they would rest starter Alex Smith and give Mahomes his first career start in their Week 17 game against the Denver Broncos. Mahomes played most of the game and helped lead the Chiefs to a 27–24 win, and completed 22 of 35 passes for 284 yards with an interception.
2018 season: Record-setting MVP
Mahomes in 2018
On January 30, 2018, the Chiefs announced they had agreed to trade Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins, making Mahomes the starting quarterback for the 2018 season. In his first game as the Chiefs full–time starting quarterback, Mahomes beat division rival the Los Angeles Chargers by a score of 38–28. In the game he threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions and a 127.5 quarterback rating. For the performance, Mahomes was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week. His first career touchdown came on a 58-yard pass to wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the first quarter against the Chargers.
The following week, Mahomes threw for 326 yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 154.8. After throwing his fifth touchdown in the game, he broke the NFL record for most touchdown passes through a quarterback’s first three career games. Following his sixth touchdown pass in the game, he broke the NFL record for touchdown passes thrown in the first two weeks of the season. For his performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mahomes won his second consecutive AFC Offensive Player of the Week award becoming the first quarterback since Tom Brady in 2011 to start the season with back-to-back player of the week awards. Mahomes was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September.
Mahomes’ locker at Arrowhead Stadium
In Week 4, against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football, he passed for 304 passing yards and a passing touchdown to go along with a rushing touchdown in the 27–23 comeback victory. In Week 6, against the New England Patriots, he passed for 352 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions in the 43–40 loss on Sunday Night Football. In the following game, Mahomes and the Chiefs bounced back with a 45–10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. In the victory, he passed for 358 passing yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. In the next game, a 30–23 win over the Denver Broncos, Mahomes recorded a third consecutive game with four passing touchdowns to go along with 303 passing yards and one interception. During Monday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11, Mahomes finished with 478 passing yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions as the Chiefs lost 54–51. His 478 passing yards were the most for a single game by any quarterback for the 2018 season.
Following an 89-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson in a Week 17 game against the Oakland Raiders, Mahomes became the second quarterback in NFL history, along with Peyton Manning, to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. Additionally, he became one of seven players in NFL history with 5,000 passing yards in a season. He finished second in the NFL in passing yards to Ben Roethlisberger. He became the first Chief since Len Dawson in 1966 to lead the league in passing touchdowns. He helped lead the Chiefs to a 12–4 record and their third straight division title.
On January 12, 2019, the Chiefs defeated the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional Round by a score of 31–13 giving the Chiefs their first home playoff win since the 1993 season. Mahomes threw for 278 yards with no interceptions and rushed for one touchdown in his first career playoff start. The win sent the Chiefs to their first AFC Championship since 1993 and allowed the Chiefs to host the first AFC Championship game held at Arrowhead Stadium. Mahomes passed for 295 yards and three touchdowns, but the Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots in overtime 37–31.
Mahomes’ performance for the season earned multiple awards. He was named to the 2019 Pro Bowl, he was named First Team All–Pro, 2019 Best NFL Player ESPY Award, and was named Kansas City Club 101 Awards AFC Offensive Player of the Year. He was also named the NFL MVP, the first ever winner for the Chiefs. He was ranked as the fourth best player in the NFL by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019.
2019 season: Super Bowl Champions
Patrick Mahomes in a game against the Tennessee Titans
In the Chiefs’ first game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mahomes threw for 378 yards and three touchdowns despite star receiver Tyreek Hill getting injured in the first quarter and Mahomes spraining his ankle in the second quarter. In Week 2 against the Oakland Raiders, Mahomes threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns in the second quarter alone, which was the most passing yards in any quarter since 2008. Mahomes finished the game with 443 yards, and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week. For the second consecutive season, Mahomes was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September after leading the Chiefs to a 4–0 start with ten passing touchdowns and no interceptions. Mahomes dislocated his patella in the Chiefs Week 7 game against the Denver Broncos. The following day, an MRI revealed no significant structural damage to his knee and he was initially expected to miss at least three weeks. He returned just two weeks later in Week 10 against the Tennessee Titans, throwing for 446 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. However, despite Mahomes’s performance, the Chiefs lost 35–32. Mahomes ran for a career-high 59 yards, but threw for a career-low for games he finished with 182 yards in the Chiefs’ Week 11 victory over the Chargers. In a Week 16 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football, Mahomes celebrated by counting to 10 on his fingers, alluding to the fact that he was the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and that the Bears could have drafted him with the second pick instead of drafting Mitchell Trubisky. He finished the season with 4,031 yards and 26 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He helped lead the Chiefs to their second consecutive 12–4 record and first round bye, as well as their fourth consecutive division title. He was selected to the 2020 Pro Bowl, though he did not play due to his participation in Super Bowl LIV.
In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Houston Texans, the Chiefs began the game with a 24–0 deficit early in the second quarter. The Chiefs then went on a 51–7 run, including 41 unanswered points, to win 51–31. Mahomes threw for 321 yards and 5 touchdowns and rushed for 53 yards as he helped lead the Chiefs to their second consecutive conference championship game. In the AFC Championship against the Titans, Mahomes threw for three touchdowns and rushed for a 27-yard touchdown, the second longest run of his career and longest in the playoffs. He sparked a comeback from down 17–7 in the second quarter to help lead the Chiefs to a 35–24 victory. Mahomes’ performance helped lead the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl appearance since Super Bowl IV in 1970. In Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs trailed 20–10 against the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter with 8:53 left, their third straight game trailing by at least 10 at some point in the game. Mahomes helped lead the Chiefs on a 21–0 run, leading the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years. Mahomes threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 29 yards and one touchdown and was named Super Bowl MVP. He was the youngest quarterback and third-youngest player in NFL history to earn Super Bowl MVP.
2020 season
On April 30, 2020, the Chiefs picked up the fifth-year option on Mahomes’ contract. On July 6, he signed a 10-year contract extension worth $477 million with another $26 million in potential bonuses for a total of $503 million, which extends his contact through the 2031 season. The contract is the largest contract in American professional sports history surpassing Mike Trout’s 12 year $426.5 million contract of the Los Angeles Angels. Mahomes is also the first professional athlete to have a half a billion dollar contract. In the Chiefs week 2 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, he earned the fourth 4th quarter comeback of his career. The Chiefs trailed 9–17 entering the fourth quarter. Mahomes led the comeback to win the game in overtime 23–20. The comeback was his sixth double digit deficit that he overcame to win, including the playoffs, which is an NFL record. In Week 3 win over the Baltimore Ravens, he became the fastest quarterback to surpass 10,000 career yards. It took him 34 games, eclipsing the mark set by Kurt Warner. He was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance of 385 passing yards and five total touchdowns (four passing and one rushing) in Week 3. In Week 8, against the New York Jets, he threw for 416 yards and five passing touchdowns in the 35–9 victory. On November 4, 2020, Mahomes was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 8. In Week 9, against the Carolina Panthers, he had 372 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the 33–31 victory. In Week 11 against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football, Mahomes threw for 348 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception during the 35–31 win. In Week 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three touchdowns during the 27–24 victory. Mahomes was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for his performance in November. In 2020, Sports Illustrated named him one of their Sportspeople of the Year for his activism off the field, specifically his support of athletes advocating for social causes as a part of their public platform. In Week 14, against the Miami Dolphins, he had 393 passing yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions in the 33–27 victory.
NFL career statistics
| hideLegend | |
|---|---|
| * | Led the league |
| † | Won the Super Bowl |
| ‡ | AP NFL MVP |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Teams | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | GS | Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2017 | KC | 1 | 1 | 22 | 35 | 62.9 | 284 | 8.1 | 0 | 1 | 76.4 | 7 | 10 | 1.4 | 0 | ||
| 2018‡ | KC | 16 | 16 | 383 | 580 | 66.0 | 5,097 | 8.8 | 50* | 12 | 113.8 | 60 | 272 | 4.5 | 2 | ||
| 2019 | KC† | 14 | 14 | 319 | 484 | 65.9 | 4,031 | 8.3 | 26 | 5 | 105.3 | 43 | 218 | 5.5 | 2 | ||
| 2020 | KC | 11 | 11 | 254 | 374 | 67.9 | 3,497 | 8.1 | 30 | 2 | 115.5 | 39 | 187 | 4.8 | 2 | ||
| Career | 42 | 42 | 944 | 1,428 | 66.1 | 12,909 | 8.5 | 106 | 20 | 110.5 | 146 | 665 | 4.6 | 6 | |||
Postseason
| Teams | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | GS | Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| 2018 | KC | 2 | 2 | 43 | 72 | 59.7 | 573 | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 98.9 | 5 | 19 | 3.8 | 1 | |
| 2019 | KC† | 3 | 3 | 72 | 112 | 64.2 | 901 | 8.3 | 10 | 2 | 111.5 | 24 | 135 | 5.6 | 2 | |
| Career | 5 | 5 | 115 | 184 | 62.5 | 1,474 | 8.0 | 13 | 2 | 106.6 | 29 | 154 | 5.3 | 3 | ||
NFL records
- Most touchdown passes thrown through first two games of a season: 10
- Most touchdown passes thrown through first three career games: 10
- Most touchdown passes thrown through first eight career games: 22
- Youngest quarterback to throw for six touchdowns in a game: 22 years, 364 days
- Most consecutive road games with at least three touchdown passes: 7
- First player to throw for over 3,000 yards in his first ten games: 3,185
- Most consecutive 300-plus passing yard games: 8 (tied)
- Fastest player to 4,000 passing yards and 40+ touchdown passes: 13 games
- Fastest to 7,500 career passing yards: 24 games
- Consecutive double digit deficits overcome including playoffs (6)
- Fastest to 10,000 career passing yards: 34 games
- Fastest to 100 career touchdowns: 40 games
- Career quarterback rating (minimum 1,500 attempts): 110.7
- Career interception percentage (minimum 1,500 attempts): 1.3%
- Career passing yards per game (minimum 1,500 attempts): 307.6
Chiefs franchise records
- Most touchdown passes thrown in a game: 6 (2018, tied with Len Dawson)
- Most touchdown passes in a season: 50 (2018)
- Most passing yards in a season: 5,097 (2018)
Personal life
Mahomes’ father Pat Mahomes is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Mahomes is the godson of former Major League pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, who was his father’s teammate on the Minnesota Twins.
On September 1, 2020, Mahomes proposed to Brittany Matthews, his high school sweetheart, in a suite in Arrowhead Stadium, the same day Mahomes received his Super Bowl Championship ring. Matthews had a brief professional soccer career playing for UMF Afturelding and then became a certified personal trainer. Mahomes and Matthews live in Kansas City, Missouri. On September 29, 2020, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child together, and on October 21, 2020, Mahomes and Matthews revealed that the child was a girl. That day, Mahomes tweeted “#girldad” along with a video of the gender reveal, referencing a hashtag that became popular after Kobe Bryant’s death.
Mahomes is a Christian. His mother said he found his faith when he was in middle school, where he was involved with a youth group at his church.
Endorsements
Following his MVP season, Mahomes received multiple endorsement deals. His first endorsement came from Hunt’s upon revealing his love for the condiment ketchup. In addition, he signed endorsement deals with Oakley, Essentia Water, Hy-Vee, State Farm, DirectTV, Adidas, and Head & Shoulders. He also was named the cover athlete for Madden NFL 20, becoming the first Chiefs player to be on the cover.
After winning Super Bowl LIV and earning the Super Bowl MVP on February 2, 2020, Bloomberg News estimated that Mahomes would earn as much as an additional $7 million per year in additional income from endorsements as the most marketable player in the NFL.
Charitable work
In the spring of 2019 Mahomes established the nonprofit, 15 and the Mahomies Foundation. Regarding its mission, the nonprofit’s website states that it is “dedicated to improving the lives of children.”
Following the police involved killing of George Floyd, Mahomes, along with teammate Tyrann Mathieu and several other NFL players, made a video encouraging the NFL to condemn police brutality and violence against black people in the United States and for the league to admit it was wrong for silencing Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid for their protests during the playing of the National Anthem during both players final year with the 49ers.
Mahomes and Tyrann Mathieu started a voter registration project in Kansas City. The project encouraged Kansas City residents to register to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election. He also worked with the Chiefs to encourage players to vote. He also joined LeBron James’ Rock the Vote initiative to encourage people to register and vote.
Sports investments
On July 28, 2020, Mahomes joined the Kansas City Royals ownership group as a minority stakeholder.