While discourse of NFL fans may have you believe that there is a heated rivalry between Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, the reality of the situation is that the two share a great relationship off the field. Now retired and enjoying his $375 million broadcasting deal with Fox Sports, Brady finds himself actively cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback.
Advertisement
In the lead up to their now immortalized showdown at Super Bowl LV, Brady confessed that there was one aspect to Mahomes’ game that he wished he could have learned earlier on in his career.
“That’s more of the younger generation that figured out how to do that. You can’t teach an old dog some of those new tricks, but that’s definitely a new trick that I wish I could learn.”
Whether it was during a second and short situation against the Baltimore Ravens, or while facing third down against the Denver Broncos, Mahomes has managed to generate success with his no-look passes on numerous attempts. When asked if there was anything in particular that he would like to steal from Mahomes’ repertoire, Brady stated that
“There’d be a lot of them… I love how he drifts back in the pocket, takes it about six yards deep and drops back about 15 yards, right foot in the ground, and then flicks that ball 60 yards down the field on a dime… He just has a great awareness of the pocket. Incredible vision of the field… The athletic ability to extend plays.”
Mahomes is renowned for his extraordinary ability to execute no-look passes, where he throws the ball in one direction while his body moves in another. He consistently transforms seemingly hopeless plays into significant gains by skillfully evading pass rushers.
His first no-look pass in the NFL occurred during his first start in Week 17 of the 2017 season against the Denver Broncos. This play was significant as it marked the beginning of his use of this technique in professional games. The Chiefs star QB has mentioned that he started practicing no-look passes with his backup quarterback Nic Shimonek at Texas Tech, often as a form of friendly competition to see who could execute the most impressive pass.
Brady clearly has a high opinion of the quarterback who is slated to dethrone him as the Greatest Ever. Even back then, Brady knew his young opponent was meant for greatness. He made a seemingly clairvoyant comment stating that Mahomes would be returning to the Super Bowl “quite a few more times, in my opinion.”
Following the Patriots’ 37-31 victory over the Chiefs in the AFC Championship, Brady elected to forgo celebrating with his teammates in favor of visiting with Mahomes. In detailing the motivations behind that decision, Brady admitted that,
“We won in overtime and the field got crazy, so I didn’t get a chance to go over and just tell him what I thought of him. I just wanted to make sure, before he left, I let him know what I thought about watching him play all year and how he dealt with all of the different things that he had to deal with.”
Taking his cue from other great signal callers, such as Peyton Manning and Brett Favre, the seven-time Super Bowl champion expressed how important it was to him that younger players receive encouragement from the league’s veterans.
A class act as always, Brady continued to set an example for the next generation even in the waning days of his legendary career. With the blessing of the G.O.A.T. himself, Mahomes will now look to continue carrying that torch into the 2025 regular season.
