A measly four starts into Patrick Mahomes’ NFL career in 2018, Mahomes Mania already was at a fever pitch in Kansas City. So much so that we playfully pictured a version of the future in which a Mahomes monument stood alongside The Scout looking over the city … and a roofed Arrowhead Stadium was known as the Mahomes Dome … and State Line Road had been renamed Mahomes Pass.
None of that has come to be … yet, anyway.
But the more Mahomes has become entwined with Kansas City, the more the not-yet-25-year-old is becoming enshrined here in momentous and indelible ways. His seemingly inexhaustible capacity to amaze and endear himself to the region was engaged in yet another way off the field Tuesday.
Only weeks since Mahomes signed a 10-year contract extension worth about $500 million, the Royals announced that Mahomes had joined their ownership group led by KC businessman John Sherman.
“He’s proven himself to be one of the top professional athletes and competitors anywhere, and he’s built a championship culture,” Sherman said in a news release that noted the Major League Baseball career of Mahomes’ father, Pat. “He loves football, but he also grew up loving the game of baseball. We look forward to many years of a winning partnership.”
Now, it would be even more intriguing if Mahomes instantly added himself to the Royals’ roster instead of just throwing out a first pitch like he did in 2018. Or if he, say, immediately announced a campaign for a downtown ballpark.
Then again, it’s not his style to just try to take over (see: Alex Smith and the year of mentoring). And, more seriously, it would figure that his role would be relatively subdued and anonymous among 22 known investors … particularly with his day job keeping him plenty occupied, assuming an NFL season will be played this fall.
Speaking of which, at one level, this fascinating turn reinforces the notion of the bond between the Chiefs and Royals.
That’s happened in part because of the proximity of their headquarters at the Truman Sports Complex but it’s been largely spurred by the communications departments of each team … and perhaps strengthened all the more by the parallels in the paths to their most recent championships.
But mostly this reaffirms something profound and cool about the relationship between Mahomes and Kansas City:
He wants to be here, forever and ever, as much as we want him here.
Never mind if it’s undoubtedly in part because of his magical relationship with coach Andy Reid, who seems as planted here as Mahomes.
The native Texan and now-international superstar, the MVP of the Chiefs’ mesmerizing Super Bowl LIV comeback watched by 100 million, wants to be of Kansas City.
So much for the decades of envy of what other teams had, the tortured sense of curses and defeatism that came with a 50-year gap in Super Bowls and endless bizarre playoff losses.
Now any sports fan here has to feel more like, “Can you believe he’s ours?”
