The Mane Event: Mahomes and his ‘do ready for preseason debut
Patrick Mahomes’ signature spin on a mohawk was never supposed to be a thing.
It was supposed to be a silly moment between Mahomes and his friends after his freshman season at Texas Tech.
But as his unruly curls started to sprout from the traditional mohawk cut, Mahomes decided it the look was a keeper.
Now, what started as a joke is building into a phenomenon around Kansas City, and Mahomes regularly retweets fans showing off their lookalike haircuts.
“I don’t know if I’m encouraging it, but if they do it, I’ll show them a little respect and give them the retweet,” Mahomes said. “It’s pretty cool to see kids getting their hair cut like mine. You grow up and you try to get haircuts like other people, and then for kids to do that for you, it’s kind of an awesome thing.”
Last week, the quarterback retweeted a picture of a young fan who not only shaved his hair into a mohawk, but also added a perm to mimic Mahomes’ curls.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PatrickMahomes5</a> this cool dude asked me to give him your hair! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/yourbiggestfan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#yourbiggestfan</a> you and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ericberry?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ericberry</a> are his favorite! He sat through a perm to be as cool as you! <a href="https://t.co/SFlfpVJQ72">pic.twitter.com/SFlfpVJQ72</a></p>— Brianna Schooley (@Bri_Schooley) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bri_Schooley/status/1025424946137321472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PatrickMahomes5</a> perm hair don't care <a href="https://t.co/yUndeoHcT5">pic.twitter.com/yUndeoHcT5</a></p>— Brianna Schooley (@Bri_Schooley) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bri_Schooley/status/1025424963317260294?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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But Mahomes admits he’s far from the original trendsetter.
When he went to the Texas barbershop after the 2014 season, he brought in photos of former Oklahoma wide receiver Kenny Stills to guide the barber.
“He had the blonde in his hair and the mohawk,” Mahomes said. “That was not the same type of hair that I have but just kind of where I started off with, and now I made it my own thing.”
And he’s not planning on changing that look anytime soon.
“Eventually, you get to a certain age it might be a little too much,” he said, “but as of right now, I’m good with the hair.”
Thursday night, Mahomes will jam a helmet over his mane at Arrowhead Stadium as the Chiefs kick off the preseason by hosting the Texans.
Each of the Chiefs’ four quarterbacks is expected to play for one quarter, beginning with Mahomes in the first.
A year ago, Mahomes didn’t see any action until midway through the second quarter. He completed 7 of 9 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown in a loss to the 49ers.
This time around, coach Andy Reid will be watching Mahomes a little differently now that he’ll be the starting quarterback in the regular season.
“I was curious to see him play last year and he did a nice job,” Reid said. “It is a different role for him. But I expect him to just go play. Go do your thing. Working with the ones, there’s a little bit more to it than if you’re a backup and know you’re not playing. That’s expected.”
Though he’s only scheduled to play one quarter, if Mahomes doesn’t get in the end zone during his allotted time, he may push Reid for a little extra.
“I know he’s going to try to keep it to where he’s going to let everybody play and he’s going to try to get everyone their reps,” Mahomes said, “but if I don’t score, I might say a little something to him.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2018 at 4:07 PM.