"I gave them a little inside info" - Patrick Mahomes once revealed how he helped Chiefs draft him
Patrick Mahomes' successes with the Kansas City Chiefs cannot be understated. Three wins in five Super Bowl appearances, being declared the game's MVP each time; two regular-season MVP awards, and multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl appearances, among other achievements - he has cemented himself as one of the greatest players of all time, and all before turning 30.
However, that success did not come cheap - at least in terms of draft capital. To nab him in the 2017 Draft, the Chiefs had to drastically trade up from 27th to 10th with the Buffalo Bills (also surrendering their 2018 first-rounder in the process).
And if he is to be believed, he played a major role in that transaction. Speaking with his teammate Travis Kelce and future Super Bowl opponent Jason Kelce on the New Heights podcast in 2022, Mahomes said (segment starts at 47:10):
"So the whole draft process, I thought I was going to be kind of a late first-round pick... I was honestly happy about it because that late first round is where the real good teams are on. You're still a first rounder so you're like, 'I can go to a good team, be in a great situation.'"
He continued:
"And as the process went on, I (felt) that I was going up in the draft and I had a couple of teams that said they were going to draft me... I kind of gave a little inside info to the Chiefs and I was like, 'Hey if y'all let me go anywhere below 12 or low, I'm gonna get drafted by someone else. So I gave the Chiefs a little bit of info on that because I wanted to be here."
How Patrick Mahomes' first career start manifested
That rookie season turned out to be some sort of "redshirt" for Patrick Mahomes, as he largely sat on the bench watching Alex Smith and learning the nuances of the game. After the Chiefs clinched the AFC West, they announced that he would get his first-ever start in the season finale at the Denver Broncos.
According to him, it was the coldest game he had ever played by that point - eleven degrees Celsius to be exact. It contributed to a somewhat poor performance from him, as he threw an interception against no touchdowns, but the Chiefs still won 27-24 thanks to a buzzer-beating 30-yard field goal by Harrison Butker.
In that same episode, Mahomes said (segment starts at 59:50):
"The craziest part of that game was we go up 24-10, and they ended up taking me out of the game. We were gonna let (third-stringer) Tyler Bray play. They had a missed handoff (to fullback Anthony Sherman), touchdown (by Broncos linebacker Zaire Anderson).
"So now we're in four-minute mode, and we go two runs, third and six, we go pass and an incompletion and they go right down the field and score the touchdown (by late Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas) to tie the game. So they ended up putting me back in the game."
The team would end up losing to the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card Round after blowing a 21-3 lead. In the offseason, Smith was traded to Washington, elevating Mahomes to starter.