Patrick Mahomes didn’t have the ideal finish to the 2024 season. His Kansas City Chiefs weren’t just walloped by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl—Mahomes himself had one of the worst games of his career. However, he learned early in life from his late grandmother, Betty “Cindy” Mahomes, to “never back down,” a lesson that will surely drive him as the quarterback looks to bounce back next season.
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Mahomes has already shown the ability to recover and respond. He suffered a similarly ugly defeat in Super Bowl 55 in 2020, and two years later, he was a Super Bowl champion once again.
He’s already a three-time Super Bowl champ, three-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time NFL MVP, and three-time All-Pro—and he’s only really played seven years. A guy isn’t this good, this consistently, by accident or purely on talent. A lot of the time, it’s about mentality more than physical ability, something deeply ingrained in him by his family.
Mahomes recently talked about the “black woman in my life” whose strength and resilience shaped him and helped him reach where he is today: his paternal grandmother.
“The black woman in my life that will always be an inspiration to me is my grandma, Cindy Mahomes. She told me to never back down, no matter what the situation was or is. She never backs down, and she was someone that was gonna do whatever it took to make sure her family was getting treated the right way, or her family was getting the most out of the opportunity that was ahead of her,” he said.
Mahomes has shown that he has carried on that “never back down” attitude from his grandma. But she also instilled something arguably even more important than that in him: a love for his family. Mahomes is known as one of the best dads in the sport, and is often seen spending quality time with his wife, Brittany, and their three kids.
“That’s influenced me to do the same with my family at every opportunity that I get. The way she loved her family is something that has carried on within me and that’s how I wanna be whenever I get to talk to my grandkids,” Mahomes continued.
“She passed away a couple years ago but my entire life she was in a wheelchair but that didn’t stop her from being the fiercest, most competitive, loyal person.”
Cindy passed away in September 2021 at the age of 68 years old. The family has kept it relatively private, but it must be heartening for Patrick to know that she saw him reach the pinnacle of his profession as a Super Bowl champion once, in 2019, before she moved on. Mahomes now looks to “honor her legacy” whenever he steps on the football field.
“How I honor her legacy is by the way that I go about my business. How I take care of my family. How I go out there and compete every opportunity that I have. I just go out there and give everything I have on the football field.
“And hopefully, I could have that same competitive spirit and loyalty as I continue to grow older and get off that football field as well. That’s how I’ll forever honor her legacy and grandma, I hope I made you proud.”
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Patrick Mahomes’ open letter to his grandmother was a mere snippet from the series called Heart of the Kingdom, a campaign by the Chiefs that celebrates the black women in the lives of their players, staff, coaches, cheerleaders, and more. The campaign began as part of the franchise’s celebration of Black History Month in February.
