Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was Jason and Travis Kelce’s latest guest for the fifteenth episode of “The New Heights Show.” He’s their second guest, joining Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts. Mahomes and the Kelce brothers sat down and talked about everything from Andy Reid to the NFL draft to some of the craziest games and plays they’ve been a part of.
The whole episode is worth a listen, which you can check out above or on your favorite streaming audio platform. Below we’ll break down some of the highlights from the episode.
The QB sneak
Jason Kelce is an outspoken proponent of the QB sneak, calling it 92% effective, even if the Eagles had a few struggles there recently. Patrick Mahomes hasn’t done a QB sneak since the 2019 NFL season when he suffered a freak injury on the high-percentage play.
Mahomes revealed that in the picture above, then-starting C Austin Reiter was actually yelling at him to get off of him.
“It was a third-down, maybe fourth-down in Denver and I got the first down and I fell on my knee and I remember being on the ground and just looking at it,” Mahomes said. “And my kneecap — it was in the side of my calf. I didn’t know what to do, so I just froze up.
“The worst part was the reaction from like every teammate I have. I had dudes running 50 yards away from me just down to the other side of the field. . . Austin Reiter, my center, is yelling, ‘Get off of me! Get off me! Get off me!’ I’m like, ‘I can’t move. What do you want me to do? My kneecap is in the back of my leg.'”
Apparently, Reiter just laid there with Mahomes on top of him until the training staff got over and were able to get the situation under control.
Matt Nagy's role in selling Andy Reid on Patrick Mahomes
Matt Nagy seems to have played a big part in selling Andy Reid on Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes revealed that he first met Reid during his Top-30 visit (a pre-draft visit) with the team. The gunslinger out of Texas Tech had a little help preparing for what Reid had in store for him during the Top-30 visit.
“The first day that I met Coach Reid was at the facility, like at the meetings we had the Top-30 visits,” Mahomes said. “So, I was in there for like five hours. We were just going through plays and going through plays.
“I’m going to just give you guys the inside scoop. Matt Nagy, who was the offensive coordinator then, really liked me. So he gave me the plays, they were going to go over the night before.”
This @PatrickMahomes story about how he ended up being drafted by the @Chiefs is WILD. 👀
(via @newheightshow) pic.twitter.com/P2y2eC5Cvv
— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2022
“Of course, I crushed the meeting,” Mahomes said. “I stayed up all night studying those plays.”
Nagy as Travis Kelce put it, gave Mahomes the answers to the test. That enabled him to impress Reid. Mahomes was equally impressed with the Chiefs, so much so that he gave them some inside information about whom showed the most interest in him in the 2017 NFL draft.
Alex Smith & Anthony Fasano
Both Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce spoke about their mentors in the league. For Mahomes, it was former Chiefs QB Alex Smith, who he credits for a lot of his success, specifically when it comes to his preparation habits.
“I think that’s what helped me have such success during my career, I just watched Alex (Smith) and I said, ‘I want to do that.”
It wasn’t just the preparation habits that Mahomes emulated, though. It was the little tips that Smith provided that stick with him to this day that helped him get such a fast start on his career.
“Little things, like under center,” Mahomes explained. “I’m coming from a shotgun (offense) every single play. He’s like, ‘Hey, have your feet like this, it’ll help you get out from under center faster.’ Just little things like that, you’d never think of when you come into the league.”
For Kelce, it was former Chiefs TE Anthony Fasano.
“Those vet guys you can lean on,” Kelce said. “You don’t realize how much they impact your perspective on the game until they leave. For me, it was huge for a guy like Anthony Fasano my first couple of years, just observing him as a professional and finding those routine things to keep your body fresh every Sunday, you’ve got to do things in the weight room and in recovery.”
Kelce and Mahomes both had a lot of respect for how these players led by example and served as mentors. Kelce even had some criticism for those in the NFL who don’t take to those mentor roles.
This quote from Travis Kelce and his sit down with Mahomes on the @newheightshow podcast will stick with me forever:
“If you’re not helping out the guy next to you, what are we fucking doing?”
— Daniel Harms🏈 (@InHarmsWay19) December 1, 2022
When Mahomes-Kelce bromance was born
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have quite the bromance going on, one so thick that Mahomes’ wife is even jealous of it.
I’m getting jealous of this love😂❤️ https://t.co/PnPoOcW9s0
— Brittany Mahomes (@BrittanyLynne) October 11, 2022
But how did this bromance first come about? Mahomes told the story of how they first bonded in his rookie season when they showed up late to a walkthrough after a night out in Kansas City.
“It’s a bad look on me,” Mahomes said. “I get here at the beginning of the year, I’m still a rookie just going through the motions trying to figure out the best way to fit in. I think the first time that I thought, Travis and I are going to be connected throughout our entire career was, when we had the fourth preseason game we used to have a little off time. You played on Thursday and you had like a little weekend. Well, Coach Reid always gave you the walkthrough the day before the actual walkthrough. Me being a kid fresh out of college, I had a couple of buddies, a couple of rookies with me and we were like, ‘Let’s go out, it’s Saturday.’ So, we go out. Coach Reid had told us the next day at like 8:00 we were going to have a 15-minute walkthrough and be done. So I set like eight alarms on my phone. I have them all, I go out with the rookies. Of course, I get out there and I see old Travis Kelce out at the same spot that I’m at. Trav is like, ‘Come on, y’all come over here to my table. Let’s have a great time.’
“I had a great night, I get home, and make sure I have all my alarms set. I go to sleep and I wake up, not to an alarm. I wake up and I look at the TV and I see 8:15 on my TV screen. I didn’t put my phone in the charger and so my phone died. Rookie mistake.”
Well, it wasn’t just the fact that Kelce was out partying at the same spot as Mahomes and the rookies that bonded them together at this moment.
“They call me up to the office, I get like the max fine and all this other stuff,” Mahomes said. “I feel like an idiot. But I thought it was so weird that the first question they ask me was, ‘Were you with Travis?’ I was like, ‘No, not at all why would you even ask that?’ Long story short, Travis was also late. He got there like five minutes before me.”
The two claim they’ve never been late again since.
Eric Bieniemy, motivational speaker
Apparently, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce draw a lot of inspiration from some of Eric Bieniemy’s patented one-liners. They recalled two in particular that have come up during some game situations, especially when they’re playing from behind:
“We have to find a way to drag our ass across the finish line.”
“You’ve got to give yourself a chance to have a chance.”
Justin Watson's nickname
Patrick Mahomes has a nickname for one of the Chiefs’ newest receivers, Justin Watson, who has climbed the depth chart since arriving in Kansas City as a reserve/future signing.
“Yeah, I call him Forrest Gump,” Mahomes said. “Have you ever seen Forrest Gump, he has that perfect — Justin Watson has that perfect form. He’s just like this the entire time.”
“Who taught Tom Hanks how to run,” Kelce said. “That shit is great.”
“So, I call him Forrest Gump,” Mahomes said. “He’s making plays for us.”
“He’s a Penn grad, the old Ivy League, baby,” Kelce said. “Every single time he catches it and makes a big play, I just see him get up and he’s like, ‘Mass equals force times celebration.’ Works every time.'”
Mahomes and Kelce also revealed why Watson won’t be throwing a pass anytime soon.
Patrick Mahomes' Mount Rushmore of QBs
The Kelce brothers asked Mahomes to provide his Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks. It’s nothing too groundbreaking and even includes one active QB.
- Tom Brady
- Joe Montana
- Peyton Manning
- John Elway
Mahomes did have an honorable mention that he would place over John Elway if Elway didn’t have the rings.
“Dan Marino, if you look at the stats dude, his first season, 48 touchdowns in that era? Dude (that has to be) the best quarterback season in history, I don’t care what anyone says,” Mahomes said. “That thing is one of the most special seasons. Every single time that I have been putting up and breaking these records, it’s like Dan Marino had 170 touchdowns in three years. I’m like, ‘What! How? I thought they ran the ball back then.”
In 1984, Marino had a league-leading 362 completions for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns.
