Can Mahomes just get a moment of peace after winning one of the most elusive trophies in sports history? Patrick Mahomes has achieved the incredibly rare feat of winning multiple Super Bowls and SB MVP awards, yet the media can’t take a moment to appreciate it without obnoxiously comparing him to past legends.
Maybe I’m the only person in the world who thinks this, but I find it rather annoying how EVER SINGLE sports media show/program/podcast/whatever has been spending the last few days comparing Patrick Mahomes and his accomplishments to practically every single athlete in sporting history.
It doesn’t matter if its Wayne Gretzky (hockey), Michael Jordan (basketball), LeBron James (basketball), Babe Ruth (baseball), Hank Aaron (baseball), Barry Bonds (baseball), Tom Brady, (football), Joe Montana (football), Terry Bradshaw (football), Peyton Manning (football), Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer/football), and Leo Messi (soccer/football), I’ve heard a media talking head compare Mahomes to them.
It’s insane how when a great player achieves a great thing, the first reaction of the media is to either diminish or push that player over the legends of the past and present. Can we not just appreciate how rare and unique Mahomes’ talent and achievements are without demeaning what Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Babe Ruth, Leo Messi have accomplished?
Like I said, only 5 PLAYERS IN NFL HISTORY (Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Eli Manning, and Tom Brady) have won 2+ Super Bowls and Super Bowl MVPS in the near 60-year history of the league since the inception of the title/Super Bowl game in 1967. Just 5 out of tens of thousands of NFL players who’ve laced up cleats and taken the football field.
Is it really necessary to say that Mahomes is a far better quarterback than Montana, Bradshaw, Star, and even Tom Brady when his career is not even a decade old? I definitely don’t think so.
It not only places unrealistic and frankly ridiculous expectations on Mahomes, but it also is EXTREMELY disrespectful to the past greats who’ve paved the way for guys like Mahomes to succeeded in the NFL today.
Guys like Starr, Johnny Unitas, Otto Graham, Roger Staubbach, Bradshaw, Montana, Troy Aikman, Doug Williams (the first quarterback of African-American ancestry to win the Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP), John Elway, Kurt Warner, both Mannings, and Rodgers should be held to the standard of the era they played in, not the stupid expectations of the modern media.
You can’t seriously compare Johnny Unitas to John Elway or Tom Brady as each one of these players played in different eras of the NFL that favored and disfavored certain aspects of football (ex: running attacks, passing attacks, etc.). There’s a reason why fullbacks (ex: Larry Csonka, Jim Taylor, Paul Hornung, Bronco Nagurski, Marion Motley, etc.) dominated the early days of the NFL and are practically extinct in today’s game.
I don’t even think the Eagles or Chiefs had a dedicated fullback on their rosters.
Clearly, the game changes and the expectations as to what makes a “G.O.A.T.” quarterback is fickler by era than the mobs of Ancient Rome, proving that this “Mahomes is better than X” talk is nothing more than asinine. Now, I’m not saying there can’t be Top-10 lists or Top-15 rankings as that’s harmless and good fun, but to directly compare and denigrate the achievements of past legends (which sports media shows do all the time) is where I draw the line.
It’s just disrespectful to them and the era they played in.
Nonetheless, I will agree with some of the media heads in saying that Patrick Mahomes has solidified his case for the Hall of Fame if he retires today.
He’s been utterly fantastic ever since he took over the starting QB role in KC from Alex Smith six years ago now and would be a first ballot Hall of Famer if he retired this second.
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