The NFL’s Thanksgiving slate carries its own tradition and importance. It is a spectacle in itself. But this year’s Cowboys-Chiefs clash is truly on another level in terms of significance. For starters, it’s a meeting between two of the league’s biggest brands. The matchup between two top-tier offenses is soaked in playoff implications, too.
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But there’s an additional layer to Thursday’s showdown, which will take things into the personal realm. For the first time in his NFL career, Patrick Mahomes will start a game at AT&T Stadium in Texas, the city he grew up admiring from afar.
It’s clearly a full-circle moment for the Kansas City Chiefs QB, but it has also opened the door for a wave of speculation online. One claim, in particular, has gained traction.
Claim: Patrick Mahomes grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan.
Source of Claim: An Instagram fan page that goes by the username @thecowboys.nation
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Verdict: Yes, it is true. Patrick Mahomes did grow up a Cowboys fan.
The proof isn’t hard to find, because it has come straight from the 3x Super Bowl winner himself. Mahomes, who was born and raised in Tyler, Texas, just about 100 miles from Dallas, has admitted that he became a Cowboys fan in middle school.
It wasn’t a casual, passing phase either. It was, as he described, a natural part of his Texas upbringing. He grew up watching the Cowboys, rooting for them with his family, and idolizing Tony Romo — the quarterback who defined Dallas football during his childhood.
Mahomes has repeatedly shared that Romo was “the quarterback I grew up watching.” And, playing against the Cowboys now with Romo in the CBS broadcast booth is something he described as “surreal.”
To put it simply, long before Mahomes became the face of the Chiefs, he was just another Texas kid glued to Cowboys games, fanboying over Romo highlights, and celebrating Dallas wins with his dad and brother.
Mahomes has also attended games at both AT&T Stadium and the old Cowboys Stadium as a fan. Those early experiences, the atmosphere, and the connection to Romo are all part of his core memory, forged as a young football lover.
Perhaps, it is this nostalgia that’s led him to secure a luxury box and invite nearly 50+ family and friends to attend his homecoming game.
“Just getting to play back at home … I’ll obviously have a lot of people in attendance that may not get to come up to Kansas City all the time and watch games. It will be a really cool experience to play there, especially on Thanksgiving, and I’ll have a lot of family and friends in the stands,” the 2x-NFL MVP said.
This childhood fandom adds an unexpected emotional undertone to Thursday’s game because Mahomes is walking into AT&T Stadium carrying the emotions of that very kid who once sat wide-eyed watching Romo, imagining moments just like this one. And now, against the team he grew up rooting for, Mahomes finally gets to live it.
