One of our Twitter followers saw Patrick Mahomes on his flight into Kansas City and said there were a few fans waiting for him at the airport. Mahomes was on his way to his introductory presser.
Now that I have a few minutes to sit down and breathe I realize we hardly mentioned that Patrick’s dad was a pro baseball player. That connection to baseball brought up this interesting nugget from Mahomes at his presser.
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“For me, my favorite player growing up was Alex Rodriguez,” Mahomes said. “And I remember when he was on the Rangers, playing with Alex and how hard Alex worked. That really stuck with me. You see him hitting off the tee for hours. And you’re like, ‘Man, you are hitting home runs every single game. Why are you hitting on the tee for two or three hours?’ That is just stuff you see and you remember as a kid and it sticks with you.”
I guess there can be something to being around pro athletes a lot to understand what it takes to make it. That would be a cool environment to grow up in. His dad played in MLB from 1992-03.
“My mom and my dad have been great about just really being open minded about whatever I do,” Mahomes said. “‘Whatever you do,’ they say, ‘just be the best you can be at it.’ And so they've always left it up to me and never been disappointed in anything.”
As for his transition to Kansas City, Mahomes was asked what he knows about the city and he said he knows they’ve got great barbecue. So I think he’ll do just fine here.