Patrick Mahomes Perfectly Explained Why He’s ‘Nowhere Near’ G.O.A.T. Status

Kristen Wong | Apr 16, 2024

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

While there’s little argument to be had for Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes being an elite quarterback, there is a controversial one for whether he could be considered a G.O.A.T. this early in his NFL career.

Mahomes is coming off his third Super Bowl win in five years after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in a 25-22 overtime thriller last February. At age 28, the Chiefs star has put himself on a Hall-of-Fame track similar to that of former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who clinched his third Lombardi Trophy a year younger at age 27.  

Mahomes, who was recently named one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2024, admitted he’s enjoyed “one of the top three starts to a career,” as the stat sheets will show. However, the two-time MVP insisted he was “nowhere near” the stratosphere of the all-time greats.

 “You have to build a consistency of a career,” Mahomes told Time. “You see that in any sport. I’ve had a great run. I think I’ve done a great job so far. But it’s hard to take away from what Tom did for so long, what Peyton Manning did, or Aaron Rodgers. There are so many guys, they were at such a high level for such a long time. In order to be in that conversation, you have to do that on a year-to-year basis. You can’t take it for granted that you did it the year before. That’s something I’ll talk about when I’m done playing. Then people can make those decisions.” 

As for exactly when he’ll be done playing, Mahomes said, “I would love to play [until age 45]...but if I feel like it's taking away from my family time, that's when I'll know it's time to go.”

Heading into next season, Mahomes is on the cusp of making history on Kansas City’s current dynasty-defining run. The Chiefs are looking to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to complete the legendary three-peat, having won back-to-back championships for the first time since Brady’s Patriots in 2003 and ‘04. 

“At the end of my time, I just want to say that I didn’t leave anything out there,” continued Mahomes. “If I can go out there and say that I gave everything I had on the football field, expectations are what they are and whatever is going to happen is going to happen. And I can be satisfied with that.”