Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes had most unusual offseason. But return to camp offers normalcy
On a warm February night in Miami, quarterback Patrick Mahomes stood on a makeshift stage and uttered a Super Bowl sentence that no Chiefs player had said in a half-century.
“Kansas City, we did it, baby!” he shouted, red and yellow confetti pouring on top of him.
A most unusual moment. The first of its kind in 50 years. Little did he know at the time, though, it would be followed by an offseason filled with moments just as distinctive and even more unexpected.
A most unusual offseason.
Mahomes had grand workout plans in the aftermath of his Super Bowl victory. He rented a place in Fort Worth, Texas, planning to return to APEC Fitness Center just days after strolling through downtown Kansas City on a parade route.
Nowhere on the blueprint were the items that consumed his summer instead. Confined to a home gym by the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of spokesperson for the NFL players’ support of the Black Lives Matter movement. An advocate for voter registration that he hopes will produce a tangible project to be unveiled in the next couple of weeks. A voice in the NFL and NFL Players Association teleconferences as the two sides outlined health and safety protocols for training camp.
“It’s been a different offseason,” he said. “You just try to keep your head on straight.”
So even as he walked into a Chiefs practice facility Friday night and again Saturday that only slightly resembled the one he departed months earlier — with plexiglass dividing locker spaces among the several new health and safety protocols in place — he acknowledged a sense of things finally returning to normal. Finally returning to a sense of comfort.
Football is back.
“My feeling is I’m ready to get back after it,” Mahomes said. “Once you hit this first day, it’s all starting over again.”
After a summer defined by the unknown, that statement provided some familiarity.
Kind of.
The Chiefs’ quarterbacks and rookies have indeed reported to training camp, allowed an early arrival along with Houston as the two teams that open the NFL season. But it’s not a camp like they’ve ever seen before. Players will be tested for COVID-19 as they enter the building. As Mahomes stepped to the podium Saturday for a Zoom call with media, he wore a mask before removing it to speak.
But the emphasis, or at least the attempt from Mahomes, will be to focus on football. To replicate training camp as closely as possible to the one that sparked that Super Bowl run.
“I’m glad to be back in the facility, back with the guys that are my teammates, guys that we built this culture together,” Mahomes said. “Now it’s about restarting the process, doing it over again. We understand it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be every day to day process. But we’re going to go out there with the mindset of being the best team we can be every single day.”
Mahomes spent much of his offseason working out, initially at home and then at APEC after it re-opened. He said he stepped into the practice facility Friday in better shape than any of his first three NFL training camps.
And while it might appear the mental side will require some catch-up work after offseason program were wiped out, he praised the work the Chiefs were able to do virtually. So when the Chiefs take the field for practice, and that will come only after an acclimation period, Mahomes plans to pick up where they left off.
“I don’t feel that behind at all,” he said. “I thought the virtual meetings went well. We had great attendance. Every guy was paying attention. Every guy was into the meeting. I mean Coach (Andy) Reid’s asking people questions every five minutes, (so) you better be in tune.
“... Guys are ready. Guys are ready to be back on the field.”