In Mahomes, Brady faces another QB he influenced
Patrick Mahomes’ coach at Texas Tech, Kliff Kingsbury, played with Tom Brady and showed his young quarterback some of the superstar’s techniques.
Patriots, and a teammate of Brady’s, in 2003.
Kingsbury, Mahomes said, “liked to show me some things that (Brady) did where he was in the pocket, his pocket movements and things like that. I have definitely
taken some things from him. He does it at such a high level, it’s something you have to strive to be like.”
Brady began his career watching and learning from the bench as a backup to Drew Bledsoe. Brady played in one
regular-season game and threw one pass as a rookie in 2000. But he ran with his chance when he became the starter during the 2001 season and led the team to a Super Bowl title.
Since then, Brady has been the triggerman for some of the most productive offenses in NFL history.
“There were a lot of guys that inspired me when I was younger,” Brady said. “You always look up to guys that are doing really great things as athletes, as competitors. I certainly had people to look up to, and I’m sure Patrick did as well.”
Mahomes, who sat behind Pro Bowl quarterback Alex Smith last season as a Chiefs rookie, comes into Sunday’s game as the talk of the NFL in his first season as a starter.
He has a quarterback rating of 112.7 (fifth-best in the league) and has passed for 1,513 yards, thrown 14 touchdown passes compared with two interceptions and completed 63.6 percent of his passes in Kansas City’s 5-0 start.
“He’s obviously doing really impressive things as a young player, and I know how hard that is to do,” Brady said. “The Chiefs obviously have a lot of confidence in him and what his abilities are.”
The 23-year-old Mahomes wasn’t born until the season Brady sat out as a redshirt at Michigan, and he is too young to remember Brady’s first few Super Bowl wins.