Patrick Mahomes, Alex Smith talk fatherhood, time as Chiefs teammates in ESPN interview
Former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith is no longer the one answering media questions, he’s asking them.
Smith, who retired earlier this year after playing for Washington, has joined ESPN for a hybrid role that will include one-on-one interviews and studio work.
“I’m curious if and when it brings me back to Kansas City in that capacity, which would be a trip, I’ll be requesting something from (Chiefs executive vice president of communications) Ted Crews, you know?” Smith quipped after he was hired.
Crews apparently came through for Smith, because he sat down with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a segment on ESPN’s “NFL Countdown.”
ESPN’s cameras showed Smith entering the Chiefs practice facility, perhaps for the first time since he was traded to Washington in 2018. The former teammates discussed their time together after Mahomes was drafted by the Chiefs in 2017.
“From the day one when you got here, I feel like you and I’ve always gotten along, like it was super natural even while we were competing for the same job,” Smith said. “Why do you think it worked the way it did?”
“I think the biggest thing was how you kind of accepted me into the quarterback room,” Mahomes said. “Obviously coming in and being a first-round draft pick, you could have treated it in many different ways. But you were so sure of yourself, you’re like, ‘I’m gonna go out and I’m playing my best football and whatever happens happens.’ So whenever I got in the quarterback room and saw how professional you were, I knew that I had to just continue to get better and get better.
“You talked about your experiences when you were early in your career and how you learned different things and you would give me those tips so that I wouldn’t have to learn them on the go like you did. And so I think just that and the type of guy that you were, I think that just really helped me go out there and really just become a part of the team.”
Smith talked with Mahomes about the Chiefs’ loss in Super Bowl LV, and what happened soon after that game. Mahomes’ fiancee, Brittany Matthews, came birth to a daughter, Sterling Skye.
Smith quipped that Sterling was the biggest offseason acquisition and asked how fatherhood has been for Mahomes.
“I think the biggest thing it has done for me is put things in perspective of just me being able to go home after practice or go home from training camp and see her. It kind of gives that perspective of there’s a lot more than just football,” Mahomes said. “To be able to have her, Brittany’s been amazing as a mom, a first-time mom, of taking stuff off my plate so I can still be who I am, but at the same time let me enjoy those moments that you have as a girl dad.”
Here is the interview:
Mahomes told Carrington Harrison on KCSP (610 AM) he was glad ESPN assigned Smith to interview him.
“We kind of had the whole day where we were just kind of talking. Just like old times, I guess you would say,” Mahomes said. “And so to have him back in the building is always special to do the interview with him. I’m glad I got him and it made it really easy I could be comfortable and just kind of be who I am.”
Smith talked a bit more about that day together while in studio with ESPN.
“I actually got to spend a day with Patrick in the film room,” Smith said. “He was running the clicker this time, not me. In fact we got to watch the Browns game from last year, the playoff game, the game he didn’t get to finish. And it was interesting, Patrick definitely had an edge to him and I think the whole team has it.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 12:02 PM.
