PHOENIX — Aaron Rodgers is about to spend four full days in a dark room while he contemplates his future. From a football standpoint, though, he might never emerge into the light.
Upon reflection — and maybe hallucination — Rodgers could choose to return to a Packers team with whom he’s frustrated. He could retire or meet an even worse fate — having to play for the Jets.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has replaced him as the NFL’s shining light. When he won the NFL MVP on Thursday night— his second in only five seasons as a starter — he became one of seven players ever to claim more than one trophy. Only 27, Mahomes has a decade or more to chase down Peyton Manning’s record of five. Or Rodgers’ four.
“There’s so many greats that have won that award,” Rodgers said this week. “To be part of that history is amazing.”
The passing of passing prowess from the 39-year-old Rodgers to Mahomes presents a different kind of torture for Bears fans. Rodgers was a twice-yearly reminder that he owned the Bears. His dominance was as steady as it was painful — Rodgers won the MVP in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021. He went 25-5 against the teams, turning the best rivalry in the NFL to not much of one.
The Bears don’t have to face Mahomes twice each season. But when the world gets to see him on the biggest stage, Bears fans are left to wonder what-if.
Again.
Mahomes’ otherworldly career is a reminder that the Bears could have had him.
Mahomes said this week that he thought he was the Bears’ first choice at quarterback during the 2017 draft — but that he was told general manager Ryan Pace likely wouldn’t pick one. Instead, Pace traded up for quarterback Mitch Trubisky, whom the Bears let walk after four years.
The newly retired Tom Brady wasn’t picked until the sixth round of the 2000 draft. The entire NFL should share the pain — everyone passed on the Greatest Of All Time, over and over again, until the Patriots took a chance on him. With Mahomes, though, the Bears are in rarer company — one of nine who could have had the quarterback without trading up. Most of those teams didn’t need a quarterback. The Bears did.
The Chiefs loved Mahomes during the predraft process. Matt Nagy, then the Chiefs’ coordinator, gave Mahomes advance notice of what head coach Andy Reid would quiz him about the next day. Nagy wanted him to ace the test.
The Chiefs traded up to take Mahomes 10th. That number stuck with Mahomes — in 2019, he counted to 10 on his fingers after scoring against the Bears.
His career has been, and will remain, one of the great what-ifs in Chicago sports — like Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, but in reverse. But if we were a Bear, would Mahomes be nearly as successful? Or would he have been Trubisky?
The quarterback himself credited his success to the place he landed.
“I understand how lucky I am to be in this organization with this coach and these players around me — and coach Reid,” he said. “If I didn’t come to the Chiefs I don’t think I’d be in this spot. He got the best out of me.
“I had to sit for an entire season. He never had any doubts of who I was going to become. He kept getting me better and better as the season went.”
He hasn’t stopped.
When he takes the field against the Eagles on Sunday, Mahomes will become the youngest quarterback to start three Super Bowls. When Brady did it, he was 39 days older.
Mahomes did it this year without the league’s leading receiver. The Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins last offseason, leaving their quarterback to prove his greatness all over again.
“His talent level goes far beyond his ability to instinctually go out there,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “He’s playing a step ahead, moreso this year than any other year we’ve played, knowing the pieces were a little bit different in terms of the weapons he has.
“And the scrutiny — everyone was looking to see how he was going to take his game to the next level. He’s got three of four moves already in his pocket, depending on what the defense does. That’s what’s going to make him the greatest to ever go down.”
His talent is unmistakable, but Reid is perhaps the greatest offensive head coach of all time. Where did Mahomes’ skillset end and his development begin? The Bears never got a chance to find out.
“You’ve got Pat Mahomes as a quarterback,” Reid said, “That’s a special thing.”
