Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have touched down in Las Vegas ahead of Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday. The reigning Super Bowl champions are hoping to lift the Lombardi Trophy for the third time in five seasons and etch their names into NFL lore as the league’s next dynasty — engendering further comparisons to the last one, the Bill Belichick – Tom Brady era New England Patriots
It’s a comparison that is not lost on Mahomes, who battled with Brady early in his career and is now in a position to become the next generation-defining quarterback if he can help the Chiefs overcome the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. The two-time NFL MVP has also acknowledged another role that is being bestowed upon him as the playoff wins keep piling up — the role of a villain, someone NFL fans love to root against.
Mahomes: Teams won’t like you as long as you keep winning
In a recent conversation with ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, Mahomes was asked whether the “villain” tag is an appropriate way to describe his standing in the NFL — especially after piloting underdog Kansas City to a fourth Super Bowl appearance in only five years. Mahomes said that although the Chiefs hope to have fun with this perception, he can “definitely” feel the enmity from fanbases around the NFL.
“I never felt like (a villain) because I’ve never been like that in my entire life. But it’s become a little bit funny,” he said. “I don’t want to say you enjoy it. I know the Patriots had that for a while
When I sat down with Patrick Mahomes recently ahead of the Super Bowl, I asked him if he senses that he's become a bit of a villain to other fan bases. His answer, specifically his comparison to the Patriots, was a pretty honest assessment: "I can definitely sense it. I never…
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) February 5, 2024
Mahomes is already well on his way to challenging Brady’s Patriots — winners of six Super Bowls between 2001 and 2018 — as the most successful quarterback in pro football history. With that success comes fans and “haters” determined to see failure.
“As long as you keep winning, teams start to not like you, and I want to keep winning,” Mahomes said.
Tom Brady handed #Chiefs Patrick Mahomes his first regular season loss, first postseason loss, and first Super Bowl loss.
All roads lead back to Brady 🤯
(h/t @TB12xGOAT) https://t.co/GzSmMmJ7Km pic.twitter.com/TDS7iQk99D
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 4, 2024
Ominous outlook for the 49ers
Standing in Mahomes’ way — for the second time in four seasons — is San Francisco, who had to launch two rallies against Green Bay and Detroit just to make it back to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs had a harder road, which required victories in Buffalo and Baltimore, and Kansas City is arguably playing its best football of the season entering the year’s biggest game.
Although the 49ers have been touted as slight favorites, Mahomes and the Chiefs defied some oddsmakers by defeating the Bills and the Ravens — the top two seeds in the AFC — and return to the Super Bowl in what increasingly feels like a run of destiny. And fulfilling destiny one more time will bring resentment to Kansas City from other fan bases — to which Mahomes said, “bring it on.”
“I’ll try to still have a smile on my face and not be a bad example, but I can be that villain for them if they need me to be,” he told DarlingtonDo
