Patrick Mahomes’ father recalls the first time he knew his son’s arm was ridiculous

Patrick Mahomes Sr., former MLB baseball player and father to Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, spent some time talking to our friends at 610 Sports Radio’s The Drive with Carrington Harrison and Brad Fanning Tuesday afternoon.

Mahomes Sr. was in Kansas City to both see his son, Patrick II, and participate in the USA Baseball Breakthrough Series at the Urban Youth Academy.

Mahomes Sr. played on the MLB rosters of six teams before eventually retiring from the game of baseball in 2009. He spoke to The Drive about what drove Patrick II to choose to pursue professional football over baseball, which he played at Texas Tech.

“He fell in love with it,” Mahomes Sr. said. “I think it got to a point where he played baseball so long, he grew up in an MLB clubhouse and been around it all his life, he knew the game, he knew it inside and out and football was something new and I think it gave him a lot more stuff to learn and he’s very into wanting to be coached and like I said, it was a new thing for him and I just think he fell in love with it and he’s been gung-ho at it ever since.”

Fanning asked Mahomes Sr. when he first knew Patrick II had such a powerful throwing arm. Mahomes Sr., who was with the New York Mets when they went to the World Series in 2000, recalled allowing a 5-year-old Patrick II to shag balls in the outfield, but it was during little league when he really received the message.

“This kid, he grew up with a ball in his hand and he’s always had a great arm,” Mahomes Sr. said. “My arm was pretty strong and it was natural. His first T-ball game, our first T-ball practice, he got a ground ball to him at shortstop and he fired it over and it hit the first baseman right between the eyes—the coach was like, well you need to throw it halfway and let it roll over there. I was like, ‘No, we’re going to find another position because we’re not going to teach him how to throw the ball wrong.”

Mahomes actually told this same story at his opening press conference with the Kansas City Chiefs back in 2017:

Harrison also asked Mahomes Sr. about the recent endorsement strategy story that came out regarding his son. Patrick II intentionally held out from certain endorsements last season as the Chiefs’ backup behind Alex Smith.

“That was a collective decision between all of us,” Mahomes Sr. said. “Patrick always tries to do things the right way, and for us, that was the right way to do things. Alex was the quarterback here and Patrick was going to be a rookie, so there was no need to come in and ruffle feathers or stuff like that. If you go out and play the game like you’re supposed to be playing, all those things will come eventually. The most important thing is to earn the respect of your teammates and that was number one on the agenda and we’re starting to get there.”

Mahomes Sr. also spoke about what it meant to see his son as a top-10 pick, his recent jorts fashion statement and whether or not Patrick II has considered, like Bo Jackson, playing two sports. Catch The Drive’s full interview here.