Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is in the midst of a record-breaking start to the season. The second-year quarterback has accounted for 15 total touchdowns and zero interceptions en route to leading his Chiefs to a perfect 4-0 record.
Kansas City’s seamless transition from Alex Smith to Mahomes is one of the most interesting stories of the NFL season. After all, Smith himself posted a 50-26 record in five seasons as the team’s starting quarterback before being traded to Washington this past offseason.
In talking about both his former quarterback and his current franchise guy, head coach Andy Reid showered Smith in praise. Said praise surrounds Smith’s willingness to act as a mentor for Mahomes.
“Alex was being Alex,” Reid said, via Robert Klemko of Sports Illustrated. “He left the door open for Patrick to join him. He said I’m gonna be here at the same time, lifting, eating dinner, watching tape, watching more tape, studying the pictures of the game plan versus all the coverages and doing your own little doodles to figure it out. He (Smith) gave that freely to Patrick, and that doesn’t always happen. That’s a big ego position. The QB room can be a little snitty at times. But Patrick came into a great situation. Alex didn’t make any demands of him, but he didn’t close the door on him in any way. Patrick can’t pay him enough for that opportunity.”
This isn’t necessarily par for the course when it comes to similar situations. Brett Favre was unwilling to help Aaron Rodgers along when the two were teammates with the Green Bay Packers. Steve Young and Joe Montana had a contentious relationship in San Francisco — the same could be said for Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo in New England.
It sure does look like Smith played a role in Mahomes’ development at quarterback. For Reid to acknowledge this publicly, it tells us just as much about the new Washington starter as it does the Chiefs' new franchise guy.
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