Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes has explained why he’s keen to learn from new back-up quarterback Blaine Gabbert.
Gabbert was recently signed by the Chiefs to be the understudy to Mahomes. Gabbert had previously been at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was in a similar position as back-up to Tom Brady.
Brady recently ended his three-year stint in Florida at the end of last season when he announced his retirement from the NFL. During his prestigious career, Brady won seven Super Bowls - six with the New England Patriots and one with the Bucs - and is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the sport.
Gabbert is a 12-year veteran in the NFL after being drafted with the 10th overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011. He moved to the Bucs in 2019 and went on to be the back-up to Brady after his arrival a year later.
During his time in Tampa, Gabbert played just 11 games across his four seasons with the team. But Mahomes believes that the fact he worked with Brady will prove to be useful for the Chiefs.
Mahomes has won two Super Bowls in his career since being drafted by the Chiefs in 2017. He was awarded the longest contract in NFL history with a 10-year deal worth $477million back in 2020.
Even though Mahomes is still the starting quarterback with the Chiefs, he is looking forward to learning from Gabbert. Mahomes says the fact his new teammate worked with Brady means he will also be looking to learn from his fellow QB.
“Yeah, I mean first off I knew of Blaine (Gabbert) from (former Chiefs QB) Chad (Henne) with them playing in Jacksonville together and Chad spoke very highly of him,” Mahomes told USA Today .
“And then since he’s been in the building, he’s been a true pro and he’s came in. You see the talent (and) you see why he was a top 10 draft pick or a first-round draft pick and the arm strength there and things like that.
“And he was just backing up Tom (Brady) so I’m asking for any advice he can give me because if you’re learning from that guy, you’re learning from the right guy. So, (he’s) just another good quarterback (and) good guy that can be in that quarterback room.”
Gabbert has not reached double figures in games played in a season since his second year with the Jaguars in 2012. Since then he’s played just 40 games across a 10-year period.
Some of that is due to Gabbert suffering several injuries across his career. The most recent, and probably most severe, saw the 33-year-old suffer a dislocated shoulder in pre-season in August 2019 and would go on to miss the entirety of the following season
