Patrick Mahomes Discusses Offseason in GQ Cover Story
After signing a historic contract extension, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was featured on the cover of GQ’s August edition.
In his interview with GQ, Mahomes discussed his offseason as a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, from the path to a repeat, to the pandemic, to how he's using his voice in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mahomes’ interview took place before his contract was signed but he discussed the Black Lives Matter video with GQ’s Clay Skipper and talked about what his voice lent to the cause.
“I understand my platform,” Mahomes tells me. “I understand that my part in the video is a big part of it.” He was working out a new contract, and knew that speaking up might prompt some blowback that could negatively affect those talks. “I'm in the middle of negotiating my next contract, to hopefully be a Kansas City Chief for a long time, but I still thought this was important enough and this was something that had to be said. It wasn't something I could sit back on and worry about my next contract, because I needed to use my platform to help. Sometimes it's not about money. It's not about fame. It's about doing what's right.”
Mahomes has since partnered with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James in his More Than a Vote organization. The organization helps boost voter-registration efforts and battle voter suppression.
Skipper also mentioned how Mahomes has molded into the face of the league and how he is the right man at the right time for the NFL.
For all the unknowns that swirl in and around the NFL, one thing about its future seems rock solid: It will center on Patrick Mahomes, who, at 24, is already the face of the league. Last season, merchandise bearing his name or likeness (everything from jerseys to trading cards to bobbleheads) outsold that of every other player, including Tom Brady, who'd had a two-year hold on that particular popularity contest. That's what happens when you manage to earn league MVP and Super Bowl MVP honors before you've rounded 25. During that MVP season, he threw for more than 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns, something that only Peyton Manning has done. Manning did it in his 15th season as a starter, Mahomes in his first. And now he's the favorite to win MVP this season (whenever that might be).
As Mahomes is nearing his third season as a starter, the sky is the limit for the Chiefs and their star quarterback, both on and off the field.
