Patrick Mahomes Knows Who He Has to Beat: Cleveland and New England
The Cleveland Browns may be loaded, but Patrick Mahomes, quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, still knows who he has to beat. And his biggest competition is still the Patriots and ageless wonder QB Tom Brady.
“For me, we know that that’s the team to beat, that’s the team you’re going to have to get through if you want to get to your ultimate goal, which is a Super Bowl and win that,” Mahomes said while announcing a partnership with Oakley in support of the brand’s new Prizm lens technology. “We’re going to do whatever we can to prepare ourselves so that when we get the opportunity - hopefully next year, this upcoming season - that we take advantage of it and we can find a way to get a win.”
Mahomes almost did that in January’s AFC championship game, but Brady kept matching him touchdown for touchdown. So Mahomes has spent this offseason training even harder so he can top his 5,097 passing yards and 50 TDs from last year.
Does that mean avocado ice cream 24-7 and daily doses of TB12 electrolytes? Not exactly, but he has changed things up so he can try to catch Tom Terrific.
He’s Watching the Competition
The Pats are Mahomes’ team to beat, but he knows they’re not the only scary squad in the remade AFC. Mahomes is well aware that Cleveland (yes, that Cleveland) could be a juggernaut this season after trading for Odell Beckham Jr. to team with Jarvis Landry and QB Baker Mayfield. “He (Odell) is such a talented player, someone who has a lot of success in the NFL,” Mahomes says. “For the Browns to make all those moves and get all those players, I know it’s an exciting time for Cleveland.”
And while the Chiefs aren’t scheduled to face the Browns next season, Mahomes could see it happening. “I’m excited to get to face those guys,” he says “Probably in the playoffs at some point.”
Mahomes Wants to Top Last Season
Mahomes didn’t win (or even play in) the Super Bowl like Brady, but he still piled up a ton of wear and tear while carrying the Chiefs (and coming within a game of the Super Bowl). And yes, that beat up his body. “When you come off your first year in the NFL, playing 20-something games if you count preseason and playoffs, your body is pretty beat down,” he says. “So, I’ve really taken great strides in my nutrition, tried to eat the healthiest I could eat, and get enough rest, but at the same time, build my body back.”
That hasn’t just meant babying his golden arm, though. It’s meant building his glutes and back with hex-bar deadlifts. “I do the hex bar deadlift and I think I’m very good at it,” he says. “I guess you could say I lift pretty heavy weight, so I like to compete against the receivers and some of the bigger guys - the linebackers and running backs - in that.”
He’s Still Building Arm Strength
Forget military presses and lateral raises. Mahomes has a set warmup routine before games, which involves a series of arm stretches and resistance band work.
It keeps his arm flexible while still letting him hone the throwing power that stunned the NFL last season. “The band work that I do with my shoulder and rotator cuff and all that stuff, it’s the biggest thing that I maintain during the season,” he says. “It’s not killing me, but it’s still building strength and getting me prepared for every single day.”
That means Mahomes is doing shoulder external rotations and internal rotations regularly. He’s also been playing plenty of long toss as a way to build arm strength, something he learned from his father, ex-MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes. “It’s such a simple thing,” Mahomes says. “Every kid does it growing up playing baseball, but I think it was vital and for me, building arm strength my entire life, I always throw the ball.”
Best part: It’s something he can do every day.
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