Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on why his spirit animal is his dog Steel
Last week, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a Instagram Live conversation with former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu as part of a Head&Shoulders event.
Mahomes and Polamalu starred together in a commercial for the shampoo company, so there was some discussion of hair.
But they also talked football, the Super Bowl, the coronavirus and ... their spirit animal.
“I was thinking about this a little bit,” Mahomes said, “I was thinking like lion, wolf, but honestly my chosen spirit animal is my dog Steel, because me and my dog Steel are exactly the same person, except he’s a dog. His mannerisms, like the stuff he does, is literally exactly the same as me.”
As Discover magazine noted, research shows dogs and their owners share personality traits, so it makes sense that Mahomes would say that about Steel, who is a very good dog:
Polamulo asked a leading question: “what’s the significance of that name?”
Mahomes said: “Funny story. I got my girlfriend Brittany a dog when we were in college and Brittany is a lifelong Steelers fan. So Steel got named after the Steelers technically, but I say it’s because of the color of his skin. But she told Troy that story, so yeah, he had to bring it up.”
Mahomes also has a dog named Silver, who is in the photo at the top.
Polamalu also asked Mahomes about his favorite moment from Super Bowl LIV. It wasn’t anything that happened on the field.
“Honestly, right after to the game — obviously there were so many big plays that happen — but getting to go to Coach (Andy) Reid and celebrate with him, just to see the emotion,” Mahomes said. “All that hard work paying off, and him and his family they were already on the field and just taking in that moment right there, I think that was the memory that will last me forever and hopefully we get a few more of those memories.”
Mahomes also said he was working hard to be in position to make more memories.
“I have a trainer that’s trained me since Day 1, since I was in fourth grade, and I know if I go back to him, he’s gonna push me to be the best I can be every single day no matter what I’ve accomplished so far,” Mahomes said. “And so I always start off going back to there, and then I look at what I did the whole season and where I can improve.
“And I feel like that’s something that’s really helped me and my career so far. And it’s on and off the field. It’s in the film room. It’s how can I make my body better every single year. And if you look at my career, obviously no one really knows with my high school, but then going into college, every single year I got better and better. And then now in the NFL, even though I didn’t have the stats like I had my second season, I mean this last season, I feel like I was a better quarterback.
“And I think you can never be satisfied with where you’re at. That’s a huge thing. And so every time I have another great accomplishment, my next step is to go out there and get another one, go be better. Do whatever I can to help make my team better.”
Here is the conversation:
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
