Patrick Mahomes Recalls 'Struggle' of Watching Video of George Floyd's Death

From Men's Health

There were many rough moments throughout 2020, but Patrick Mahomes doesn't hesitate when asked to pick the worst one. The ugliest moment of last year, Mahomes says, was George Floyd's stunning death at the hands of police in Minneapolis in June 2020. Mahomes struggled to watch the eight-minute-46-second video that captured Floyd's final moments and his voice still wavers when he discusses the subject.

"I mean, seeing that video, I mean, you can barely watch it," Mahomes tells Men's Health. "You have to stop the video because, I mean, it’s just sad to watch. And being from a racially diverse family, I could see someone in my family being in that position. And so I just didn’t want that to happen again."

Mahomes still didn't instantly speak out on the matter, though, thinking through his words and his role in the national conversation carefully. And there were many reasons for that. His godfather, LaTroy Hawkins, recalls advising Mahomes when he first joined the NFL in 2017 to wait before speaking out about issues of social justice. He needed to gain the trust of his team before he began speaking out. "My conversation with him was: 'You’re new to the league,'" Hawkins says. "'Your main objective right now is learning this playbook and building leadership skills.'"

Mahomes also needed to understand his role in the conversation. He's biracial, the son of ex-MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes, who is Black, and Randi Martin, who is white. And he'd lived a life of privilege, enjoying three parental figures (Pat Mahomes, Martin, and Hawkins) and hanging out in MLB locker rooms as a kid. He needed to choose his words carefully. “He’s the product of a Caucasian family and a Black family," Hawkins says. "They’re both human beings ... He was very disturbed, just like everyone else.”

But as last summer wore on, Mahomes could stay silent no longer. Floyd was one of many Black Americans who died at the hands of police, along with Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, among others. And Floyd was Mahomes' tipping point.

On June 1, Mahomes put out an official statement on Twitter in response to Black Lives Matter protests. "First, I send prayers to the family and friends of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmad [sic] Aubrey," Mahomes wrote. "As I have watched everything that has happened over the last week and even before then, I have tried to put my feelings into words. As a kid who was born with a black dad and white mom, I have been blessed to be accepted for who I am my entire life, but that isn’t the case for everyone. The senseless murders that we have witnessed are wrong and cannot continue in our country."

Later, he'd meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, pushing the league to promote greater social activism. And by the end of the summer, his presence in the NFL's years-long social justice conversations with the NFL had prompted Goodell to utter the words, "Black Lives Matter," and admit he "wished we had listened earlier" to Colin Kaepernick's peaceful kneeling protests.

Mahomes says he drew plenty of inspiration from Kaepernick's protests, too. "You see how he was able to use this platform, I mean, he was able to get his message heard," Mahomes says of Kaepernick. "And so for me, I try to just do whatever I can to just use my voice in whatever way I think is the best possible."

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