Patrick Mahomes Becomes 10th NFL Player To Win Multiple MVP Awards

Patrick Mahomes won his second AP Most Valuable Player Award, which puts the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback in exclusive company.

Only nine other NFL players (Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers) have won the award multiple times. Each is in the Hall of Fame already or is a lock to make it when eligible.

When asked about Mahomes prior to the Chiefs-San Francisco 49ers game on Oct. 23, Montana joked about his fellow MVP throwing off his back foot, from a sidearm position or late down the middle of the field.

“He does everything you tell every quarterback you can’t do or don’t do. He does all of it and does it well,” he said. “He is one of the most talented guys that you’ll see.”

The talented Mahomes posted a 105.2 passer rating while completing 67.1 percent of his passes and leading the NFL in touchdown passes (41) and passing yards (5,250). His total yardage output, including rushing, was 5,614, and that broke Drew Brees’ single-season mark of 5,562 in 2011.

Mahomes put up those numbers despite throwing to an entirely new set of wide receivers with the exception of Mecole Hardman, who missed half of the season due to injuries.

The quarterback welcomed the change and the challenge.

“He didn’t flinch on it. He didn’t complain,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “That’s why my hat goes off to him for doing that and then playing at the level he’s playing at.”

Mahomes had to work with an even more challenging cast of receivers in the AFC Championship Game.

While down to three healthy wide receivers (Marquez Valdes-Scantling, rookie Skyy Moore and former practice squad player Marcus Kemp), he completed 29-of-43 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and led the game-winning drive all while gutting through a high ankle sprain.

Reid has praised the growth of the quarterback in his sixth year, complimenting his mastery of man, zone, shell, single safety and quarters coverages. He said he’s become more patient and better at checking it down while also knowing when to take shots down the field.

Mahomes may be more methodical now, but his favorite play of his MVP season showed the magical panache for which he’s known. In a Week 14 victory against the Denver Broncos, he threw a no-look pass to Jerick McKinnon for a 56-yard touchdown.

“It was one where I legit did not think I was throwing the ball at all,” Mahomes said. “I was just trying to get the ball out of my hands as quickly as possible, and then seeing it on the TV … it looked sweet.”

As a two-time MVP by the age of 27, Mahomes is showing that the longest (10 years) and most lucrative ($450 million) contract in the NFL is actually a good value.

While still on his rookie deal, though, he won the MVP and then Super Bowl in his first two years as a starter.

He said that initially made him think such success would naturally happen every year but now has better perspective and appreciates the accolades even more.

“The MVP award is a special award,” Mahomes said. “It’s a trophy that symbolizes the team that was around you, and so you think about the memories that you had with those guys and how you went to battle with them and were able to win a lot of football games.”