2023 has been filled with memorable and significant moments in the world of American football. So much so that Tom Brady’s second retirement – which came on a grey Florida beach day exactly one year after his first – doesn’t even make this list.
The NFL train doesn’t even slow down to wave goodbye to the GOAT – it keeps on moving and it keeps on serving up great drama and headlines.Here are my most significant stories from 2023.
Patrick Mahomes hurt his ankle badly in the first half of Kansas City’s Divisional Playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but battled through the remainder of that contest before winning an AFC Championship Game showdown with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. Then it was time to face the fiercest pass rush in the NFL as the Chiefs met the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57.
Late in the first half, Mahomes re-injured his ankle and went into half-time looking gloomy while on the wrong end of a 24-14 scoreline, but the two-time NFL MVP defied logic to battle back in the second half. Kansas City were excellent after the break and the game was tied at 35-35 late in the fourth quarter. Mahomes then ripped off a legacy-defining 26-yard run on one leg, setting up Harrison Butker for the winning field goal.
April saw the biggest event of the offseason take place in Kansas City: the 2023 NFL Draft. There was expected to be a dramatic and an impactful run on quarterbacks at the top of the annual selection process – and that certainly proved to be the case. The Carolina Panthers mortgaged their immediate future to get up to the No 1 pick, where they had a choice to make… Bryce Young out of Alabama or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.
They chose Young and despite the days leading up to the Draft being filled with negative chatter, the Texans raced to the podium and took Stroud. We are only just coming to the end of year one but it certainly looks like the Panthers made a mistake that could haunt them for the next decade and a half. Young has really struggled on a poor team while Stroud has been excellent and instantly transformed Houston into a playoff contender.
