Kansas City superstar Patrick Mahomes had a chance to rake in more cash through endorsement deals in his early days with the Chiefs. However, he decided against it and it proved to be the right call.
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Patrick Mahomes is an absolute superstar in the world of the NFL. Regarded as someone who has all the attributes to become the poster boy of the sport, Mahomes started his NFL journey will the Chiefs in 2017.
For his rookie season, Mahomes was utilized as Alex Smith’s backup. However, when Smith went to the Commanders in 2018, Mahomes was named the Chiefs QB1.
Straightaway, Mahomes proved why he was trusted by the Chiefs. He ended up becoming only the second player after Peyton Manning in the history of the league to throw 50 touchdown passes and cover 5000 yards in a single season.
With the way Mahomes was performing, it was evident that he will soon guide his team to a Super Bowl victory which is exactly what happened in the 2019-20 season.
The Chiefs then offered Mahomes one of the biggest deals in sporting history. In 2020, he signed a whopping 10 year $503 million extension with the Kansas City-based franchise.
After signing the mammoth contract, he yet again carried his team to the 2020-21 Super Bowl where they couldn’t get past Brady’s Buccaneers.
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Patrick Mahomes said NO to massive endorsement deals early on in his career
Over the years, Mahomes has kept himself away from controversies and has focussed solely on the game. Back in 2018, when Mahomes was still in the process of establishing himself as the main man for the Chiefs, he was offered massive endorsement deals.
The QB could have made a lot of money out of it. However, he turned it down as he wanted to establish himself as a leader first. Talking about the same in an interview with ESPN, Mahomes’ agent Leigh Steinberg had claimed, “we talked about how the first year the goal was to integrate into the team. The only way to do that is to pay deference to the incumbent veterans and try not to go into the situation with a high profile.”
“We intentionally didn’t do endorsements that would run in the Kansas City area even though they were offered. We didn’t want him to be on billboards and everything when he wasn’t even playing,” he had said.
This was a tough call as we have seen many promising QBs failing to perform at the big stage. Their careers are trimmed down and they are left to struggle financially.
Mahomes, who was still very young in the league was expected to pounce on the opportunity to earn big. However, he had trust in his abilities and his decision proved to be a masterstroke.
Mahomes, whose salary last year was $40 million, made roughly $76 per minute. Moreover, he is now involved in tonnes of commercials. So it would be fair to say that he is doing well financially.
