Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce share selfless leadership mentality
There's little doubt that Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce are heading to the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.Part of that will be attributed to their God-given talent, but there is no shortage of talent in the NFL. What usually separates good players from Hall of Famers is […]
There's little doubt that Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce are heading to the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.
Part of that will be attributed to their God-given talent, but there is no shortage of talent in the NFL. What usually separates good players from Hall of Famers is work ethic, attitude, and leadership. Mahomes and Kelce have all of those qualities in abundance.
The two had instant chemistry when Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback back in 2018. Mahomes and Kelce have connected for 589 completions for 7,303 yards and 53 touchdowns in 93 games played together. They have been unstoppable in the postseason as well, setting the NFL record for most touchdown connections with 16.
All of that production begins with the mentality that the two share both on and off the field. Here's what Mahomes had to say when he was asked about how he and Kelce are able to connect so well during Wednesday's media availability.
“I think it’s just at the end of the day we want to compete." Mahomes said, "We want to go out there and win. We don’t care how it’s done; we don’t care if we have a lot of yards, a lot of touchdowns we just want to win. You can see that when you hear him talk, it’s about everyone’s success not just his. I respect that. Like I said he was here before I got here, so I could see that from day one when I stepped in the building. When you have a bunch of guys that really want to win no matter what it takes, no matter who gets the shine, that’s when you get the great football teams.”
Mahomes also talked about how Kelce has stayed down to Earth and remained himself despite extra off-field attention over the past year.
“Travis has always been Travis at the end of the day," Mahomes explained. "It’s been cool to watch for me because – I mean obviously he has all that attention, but he’s just been himself the whole time. He’s still Travis Kelce. He still will walk through the stadium and treat every single person like they’re his best friend, and he’s going to be like that in the locker room every single day. It hasn’t been any different to me. I’ve come to the building, come to work every single day, and (I’m) lucky enough that I have a lot of great players around me and Travis is one of them.”
Mahomes and Kelce's leadership has been on display over this past season more than we've seen in previous years. The Chiefs have had uncharacteristic struggles on offense and have turned in a few downright bad performances. However, Mahomes and Kelce have stayed the course and helped carry their teammates through the struggles.
We've heard both of them after games take responsibility and blame for things that weren't their fault. Multiple times this season Mahomes has said he needs to throw a better ball when a pass was dropped or do a better job avoiding a sack. Kelce recently said that if he had done a better job finishing his block, receiver Mecole Hardman wouldn't have lost a fumble against the Buffalo Bills.
Kelce has also aggressively defended the Chiefs' receiving corps for the struggles it has had this year. It's that kind of positive reinforcement and selflessness that keeps guys confident and allows them to contribute down the line. It's also part of how Kelce, Mahomes, and the Chiefs offense as a whole has had so much sustained success over the last six years. We are seeing the payoff yet again as Kansas City's offense has hit its stride at the most crucial time of the year.
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