two weeks ago, after dispatching the Baltimore Ravens on the road in the AFC Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs packed into the visitors’ locker room at M&T Bank Stadium to celebrate a return trip to the Super Bowl
. In the middle of the din, was a shirtless Patrick Mahomes, still looking forward. “Like I been saying, we ain’t done yet,” he roared.,But when footage of his rallying cry made it to social media, the focus quickly shifted away from his encouraging words to his much less defined torso. Before long his #dadbod had made its way on to the NFL’s X (formerly Twitter) feed and had commenters passing judgment on his fuller frame
some calling him “bloated,” “fat”, and accusing him of having “a beer gutThis despite the Chiefs passer appearing in the Netflix docuseries Quarterback, which devotes considerable focus to Mahomes’s unyielding training regimen. Mahomes coolly absorbed the critical blitz. “Yooo why they have to do me like that!?!?!?” he tweeted in response. “Like, i got kids!!!”
In Mahomes’s defense, Incredible Hulks rarely make for quality passing material. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were also shamed for their modest physiques. The impressive thing about Mahomes is how his early body of work stacks up with those legends.
Since taking over as the Chiefs starter in his second NFL season, Mahomes has led them to the Super Bowl in four of the past five years. At worst, he has come up short in the conference title game only twice. Through 17 career playoff games,
Mahomes has already amassed so many passing yards (5,260) and total touchdowns (44) that, were they compiled over 17 regular-season games, his stats would top every QB but Brees, Manning and Brady. No wonder that Mahomes has been voted league MVP twic
