Of Course Patrick Mahomes Wants to Go Undefeated. What Else Should He Say?
This weekend, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes mentioned that he'd rather win football games than lose them. This took many people by surprise.
Welcome to the worst part of the offseason.
In an interview with Bleacher Report, Mahomes... made headlines? when asked if he has any records he's hoping to break in 2021. Mahomes responded that he'd like to go undefeated all the way through the Super Bowl, making the Chiefs the first team to ever go 20-0, in light of the new 17-game season.
"The only record I have my eyes set on breaking, which would be new this year, would be going 20-0," Mahomes said. "It's not really a record to be broken I guess you would say — 19-0 is the record right now — so being able to go 20-0 and being the first one to do that, that would be awesome."
Just a few more details before we dive into the headline-making quote there.
1. The interview happened at Mahomes's charity golf tournament in Hawaii.
2. The question-asker in this video is Kayla Nicole, a host, interviewer and longtime girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
3. It's all sponsored by Coors Light.
To be clear, there's nothing wrong with any of those three points. Mahomes and some teammates and friends are playing golf and making content in Hawaii for charity. They all had a much cooler weekend than I did. Also, this is a laid-back environment, having a friendly, casual interview on a couch where Mahomes said virtually nothing and none of this needs to be news! What else was Mahomes supposed to say?
"Hey, Patrick, do you have any goals for the 2021 season?"
"Yeah, I'd like to break a lot of individual records and really take over the record books."
An hour later on First Take, the on-screen graphic would read "PATRICK ME-HOMES: KC QB HUNTING INDIVIDUAL RECORDS IN '21."
"Hey, Patrick, do you have any goals for the 2021 season?"
"No, not really. Just playing golf out here for my charity and then we'll take it one week at a time when we get back."
"SLACK-TRICK MAHOMES? KC QB KICKING FEET UP UNTIL KICKOFF."
Anything Patrick Mahomes says can be "news." But you don't have to care about all of it. His publicly stated goal is one that every single player in the NFL also aspires to. Some players might say something about how "you can't win 20 games all at once" or that "everyone else is trying to win too," and they'd be right. They'd also be saying virtually nothing, and certainly nothing honest or interesting.
Sometimes athletes — especially ones as powerful as Mahomes — say things that matter. In those times, I've found it worthwhile to listen to them. Other times, they're having a sponsored chat with a friend on a Hawaiian golf course and offhandedly mention that they'd rather not lose football games. It's all fine conversational fodder, but it's nice to be able to distinguish the difference between stories that break news and stories that only exist to help fill the news cycle.
