After Super Bowl Heroics, Patrick Mahomes Is So Beyond That Greatest QB Thing With Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes deserves a raise. A big one. Something the size of his guts and his heart, which are massive. And, yes, according to Forbes, he ranks fourth among the NFL’s highest-paid players for 2022 at $51.5 million, but it’s like this: He proved Sunday night during Super Bowl LVII along the way to a second world championship in four years for his Kansas City Chiefs that the sporting world aims too low by saying he sits among the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

That’s a given.

Way before the first 30-second commercial hit the airways for an average of $6 million to $7 million around plays involving the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Mahomes already was running and throwing his way in the direction of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. At 27, he grabbed his second NFL Most Valuable Player Award this season, and he had two previous trips to the Super Bowl, including a world championship ring.

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Here’s the difference for Mahomes between then and now: He spent this NFL postseason going from extraordinary to legendary.

That’s legendary as in the likes of Lionel Messi ($130 million), LeBron James ($121.2 million) and Christiano Ronaldo ($115 million) They are the world’s highest paid athletes on Forbes’ list for 2022, but Mahomes isn’t there yet.

If nothing else, Mahome’s legendary tag in progress should move him closer to becoming the NFL’s highest-paid player, especially since the legendary Tom Brady says he’s retired after he led the 2022 Forbes’ rankings at $75 million.

The legendary Mahomes is trending toward taking Brady’s place — on the field and in his bank account.

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This time, after Mahomes looked ready to leave the premises on a cart or a stretcher early Sunday evening, he overcame re-injuring his right ankle late in the first half to rally the Chiefs from a 24-14 deficit to a 38-35 victory against an offensively and defensively loaded Eagles team featuring Jalen Hurts playing out of his mind.

Mahomes just shifted into a higher gear than that of Hurts, because that’s what legends do.

“Toughest son of gun you ever met man,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said of Mahomes after catching six of his passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. “That Texas gunslinger ain’t going to let nothing get in the way.”

This was grander than Michael Jordan battling both the flu and the Utah Jazz to win Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals for his Chicago Bulls. This topped Kellen Winslow pushing his San Diego Chargers past the Miami Dolphins during a 1981 playoff game despite a pinched nerve, a strained rotator cuff, cramps and overall exhaustion while losing 13 pounds.

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No doubt others have performed miracles on one leg.

Willis Reed comes to mind. While he hobbled, he took his New York Knicks to a 1970 world championship over the Los Angles Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. Remember Kirk Gibson? In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, he swung his Los Angeles Dodgers toward a sweep of the Oakland A’s with a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Mahomes became Jordan, Winslow, Reed and Gibson for three consecutive playoff games by ignoring the aches and pains from his high ankle sprain on his right leg to conquer everything. First, he held off the Jacksonville Jaguars in the division round. Then he survived Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals down the stretch of the AFC Championship Game.

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Then came the final minutes of the first half in Super Bowl LVII, when Eagles defenders continued to join their offensive counterparts by dominating and bruising the Chiefs. Mahomes landed awkwardly on his bad ankle after he was tackled, and he limped to the sidelines. The expression on his face resembled that of somebody done for several weeks.

Maybe months.

Certainly for the game.

“Yeah, I felt really good until I reaggravated it a little bit,” Mahomes said later of the injury.” But you’re in the Super Bowl, you can worry about getting it healthy in the offseason. So, I just kind of just fought through, and we were able to win the game.”

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The Chiefs only did so after Mahomes kept passing, rushing and willing his team to 24 consecutive unanswered points.

He did so on one one leg . . . again.