Patrick Mahomes was not walking away. Even after another ankle injury threatened to derail the Kansas City Chiefs’ undefeated season.
Even after head coach Andy Reid told the reigning Super Bowl MVP that he was taking his injured franchise quarterback out of the game. Mahomes had rolled his ankle again, and he was hobbling while his 6ft 2in and 225lb ‘dad bod’ frame was being supported by two staff members. “(My ankle) rolled the other way when I went to plant,” said Mahomes, as Kansas City fought for a home win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.
That was the last thing that Reid wanted to hear, and he let the three-time champion know it. “Patrick, I’m going to take you out,” Reid said. Travis Kelce infamously got in Reid’s face and shoved the respected coach during the previous Super Bowl, later apologizing for the emotional blow up. Mahomes didn’t go that far. But he directly disobeyed his coach — with some crafty persuasion.
“No, no,” Mahomes fired back. “Come on, man. Sheesh.” The face of the NFL then cracked a smile as Reid held up a playsheet and covered his mouth for a quick private conversation. “Nah,” Mahomes said. “I’m good. I’m good.” And that was it. Kansas City prevailed 30-24 in overtime as Mahomes engineered another game-winning drive.
The Chiefs improved to 8-0 — keeping a historic 20-0 season a potential reality — while DeAndre Hopkins added two big touchdowns. “Champions don’t quit,” one fan tweeted. “That’s the love of the game.” “It was a true miracle,” a second fan posted. “From the above injury, to running around like it never happened 5 minutes later.”
Mahomes was checked out in a sideline tent. But Reid trusted his three-time Super Bowl champ, and listened when Mahomes objected. “You feel the pain and that scares you,” Mahomes said. “Because I’ve dealt with ankles before. But I just kind of laid there and as time went on the pain subsided.
“I just kind of got to it, and got moving again and felt comfortable going out there.” Mahomes did wonder if he went too far with Big Red, though. “He’s a competitor,” Reid said. “I told him I was going to take him out and he wanted to fight me. He’s a tough kid.”
