Reassuringly in an age of skepticism, yes, Virginia, there is a Patrick Mahomes
Last week, Arrowhead Stadium morphed into a winter wonderland. Within that virtual snow globe, Patrick Mahomes and Co. pranced around and slid about and threw snowballs at each other and performed enough snow angels to about wipe the field clean and otherwise romped past the Denver Broncos 23-3.
“I think I’m a snow-game guy; I don’t know why. But I kind of like it: Everything’s super-slow, and I’m just like out there, just like standing straight there in the pocket,” a mic’d up Mahomes playfully said on the sideline during the game, per a must-see Chiefs-produced video.
Then you can hear him singing “Feliz Navidad” to a few teammates, explaining to one that it means Merry Christmas in Spanish.
Talk about joy to the world … or at least to Chiefs fans.
The Chiefs (10-4) are surging into the stretch run, having won four games in a row and claiming their fourth straight AFC West title. Entering their game Sunday at Chicago (7-7), they’ve done it with a revitalized defense (11.25 points allowed the last four games) and the offense back in sync after a mini-slump.
In the process, in the spirit of the season, they’re inducing a contemporary and localized version of visions of sugar-plums to dance in our heads: reason to believe anew in the possibility of the franchise’s first Super Bowl in 50 years.
To be sure, there are ample reasons to bask in the prospect and appreciate where they are.
Start with the wisdom of owner Clark Hunt to hire Andy Reid with the organization in turmoil after the Chiefs went 2-14 in 2012. Then commend Reid, who has become the sixth-winningest coach in NFL history (217 victories) after going 75-35 in regular-season games here.
Credit general manager Brett Veach with making key personnel moves and revamping the defense, particularly with the acquisition of safety Tyrann Mathieu and defensive end Frank Clark after last season ended with the piercing 37-31 overtime loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Pay kudos to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo for fusing together massive changes to transform a liability into an apparent advantage. And give due recognition to game-changing stars such as Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and Chris Jones.
Consider, too, a locker room culture that seems to reflect the gracious, infectious mindset of Mathieu, who recently said something that has stuck with me: “Being a great teammate, it might be better than being the best player on the team,” said Mathieu, reminiscent of a philosophy of Royals general manager Dayton Moore.
In fact, for interlopers walking in the room and getting to know the players a bit, the chemistry is reminiscent of the buoyant, all-for-one vibe around the 2014 and 2015 Royals teams that won back-to-back American League titles and the 2015 World Series.
But what animates and fuels all this is the gift that keeps on giving: Mahomes. In just his second full season, he is a transcendent figure in the sport — and for anyone who follows the Chiefs a singular wellspring of faith that nothing is insurmountable.
Not simply because of what he’s already done, throwing for 50 touchdowns last year to be named Most Valuable Player in the NFL and picking up this season where he left off, but for what remains to be seen.
Every time we watch Mahomes play, it’s like tearing the wrapper off a present in anticipation of something shiny and new and special waiting to be unveiled.
Perhaps best of all, the man nationally associated with Kansas City now is a man we all want to be associated with — a reassuring and inspiring notion in itself.
He’s empathetic and humble and considerate, enough so that he’s self-deprecating and candid and looks you in the eye when he speaks. Heck, in the middle of the action last week, he made a point of thanking someone who simply helped him stay afoot as he ran out of bounds.
Even as he’s become a wonder, he’s retained his childlike wonder.
That was nicely illuminated via the video we mentioned earlier, in which he proclaimed the beauty of playing in the snow and repeatedly had to go find his helmet and joked about whether his footwork on one play had resembled that of the remarkably agile Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, etc.
That innocence showed up, too, when he was asked last week about memorable Christmas gifts he’d received.
“One of the gifts I remember getting was a basketball goal. Santa brought me that, and I was able to go out and play basketball with all my neighbors and different stuff,” he said. “I actually ended up breaking the goal about a year later.”
How did he break it?
“I was trying like half-court shots and I was throwing them in full baseball form,” he said. “And it shattered the glass.”
Now all he does is shatter records and perceived boundaries while heartening anyone who watches him or spends time around him.
A few weeks ago, we went to interview 100-year-old Melba Mills (who has since turned 101) on the occasion of her having been honored by the Chiefs and meeting Mahomes. As we spoke, she revealed her never-ending disappointment about being told there was no Santa Claus.
Just the same …
“I would say that my 100-year-old mother hasn’t been as excited about anyone in her life since Santa Claus as she is with Mahomes!” her son, Monte Mitchell, wrote in an email.
And, hey, maybe the essential idea of those things aren’t so unrelated.
In 1897, 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon famously wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun, saying “some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.” The editorial response was pure genius.
“VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age ...,” it said in part, later adding, “Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus … Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.”
Also, Virginia, there is a Patrick Mahomes —whose wonders both seen and yet to be revealed have purged some skepticism of a skeptical age a half-century in the making.
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 5:00 AM.