(1995-)
Who Is Patrick Mahomes?
Before being drafted into the NFL in 2017, Patrick Mahomes, who is the son of former MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes Sr., played both baseball and football for Whitehouse High School and Texas Tech. He was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2018, and following his third professional season, he became 2020’s Super Bowl MVP. Later that year, he went on to sign a record-breaking 10-year contract with the Chiefs, which was reportedly worth $503 million. Mahomes, who is engaged and expecting a baby with his high school sweetheart Brittany Matthews, is also a vocal supporter of various charities and social justice initiatives. He played in his second Super Bowl in February 2021.
Early Life and Education
Born on September 17, 1995, in Tyler, Texas, Patrick Lavon Mahomes II is the son of former Major League Baseball pitcher Patrick “Pat� Mahomes Sr. and event planner Randi Martin Mahomes. (Pat and Randi are now divorced, though they still remain “friendly.�) With Pat playing for several MLB teams over the course of his 11-year professional baseball career, the family often lived in apartments and hotel rooms in cities where he played. The younger Mahomes, who is biracial, has said he’s both “proud to be Black� and “proud to have a white mom, too.�
By his junior year, Mahomes was starting at quarterback at Whitehouse High School in Whitehouse, Texas, where he also excelled at baseball. In his senior year, he threw for 4,600 yards, 50 touchdowns, and only four interceptions, but college coaches still thought his future was in baseball. After high school, the Detroit Tigers drafted Mahomes in the 37th round.
Declining the offer, Mahomes instead enrolled at Texas Tech in 2014 and continued to play baseball with the assumption he’d enter the MLB draft again in the future. After success as a starter on the football team during his sophomore season, however, he shifted focus and quit playing baseball. Mahomes eventually decided to forego his senior year at Texas Tech to enter the NFL draft, but still ended his college career ranking third in passing yards, touchdown passes, attempts and completions. He also ranked as the school’s second all-time quarterback with 22 rushing touchdowns.
NFL Career
Mahomes was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs as the 10th overall first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and made his professional football debut and first start against the Denver Broncos in December of the same year. In 2018, he became just the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for 50 touchdowns and 5,000 passing yards in a single season and was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. Leading the team to a 12-4 record, Mahomes was the first Chiefs player to win a league MVP award.
In February 2020, Mahomes played in his first Super Bowl, with the team ultimately winning the championship over the San Francisco 49ers with a final score of 31-20. He was named the Super Bowl LIV MVP, and later that year, finalized a 10-year deal with the Chiefs reportedly worth up to $503 million — the most lucrative contract in sports history.
For the second year in a row, Mahomes and the Chiefs earned a spot in 2021’s Super Bowl LV. However, they lost to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9.
In February 2023, Mahomes and the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 to secure his second Super Bowl victory, and third for the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. He was awarded the Super Bowl MVP for the second time.
Social Justice Activism
In July 2020, Mahomes appeared in a viral Black Lives Matter video that called out police brutality, alongside fellow NFL players including Saquon Barkley, DeAndre Hopkins, Odell Beckham Jr., Ezekiel Elliott and Deshaun Watson, among others. “I understand my platform,� he told GQ in an August 2020 profile. “I'm in the middle of negotiating my next contract, to hopefully be a Kansas City Chief for a long time, but I still thought this was important enough and this was something that had to be said. It wasn't something I could sit back on and worry about my next contract, because I needed to use my platform to help. Sometimes it's not about money. It's not about fame. It's about doing what's right.�
Soon afterward, he joined NBA star LeBron James’ More than a Vote organization, helping with voter registration and voter suppression efforts. In a July tweet, he encouraged his more than 1.7 million Twitter followers to send him a screenshot of their registration confirmation. That Fall, his 15 and the Mahomies Foundation split the cost of new voting machines in Kansas City with the Chiefs ahead of the 2020 general election. As a result of his activism, Sports Illustrated named Mahomes a 2020 Sportsperson of the Year.
Personal Life
Mahomes began dating certified personal trainer Matthews in 2012 during his sophomore year at Whitehouse High School. The pair stayed together while attending separate colleges, with Mahomes attending Texas Tech, and Matthews playing soccer for the University of Texas. On the same day he received his Super Bowl LIV Champion ring in September 2020, Mahomes proposed to Matthews at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Weeks later, the couple announced that Matthews is pregnant with their first child, who they revealed via social media is a girl. Their daughter, Sterling Skye, was born on February 20, 2021.
QUICK FACTS
- Birth Year: 1995
- Birth date: September 17, 1995
- Birth State: Texas
- Birth City: Tyler
- Birth Country: United States
- Best Known For: Patrick Mahomes is an NFL quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs football team.
