Patrick Mahomes also played collegiate baseball, in case you didn’t know. He was even a top prospect in the 2014 MLB draft, being taken in the 37th round by the Detroit Tigers. He didn’t follow that path, as we now know, since he had already committed to Texas Tech University, where he would play both baseball and football in college. I’m not sure if his pitching helped him develop his football arm, but his journey to where he is now – a two-time Super Bowl champion and NFL record-holder – began at Texas Tech University in West Texas.
Mahomes’ humble Texas beginnings
Mahomes grew up in Tyler, Texas, and in high school, he participated in football, baseball, and basketball. In fact, he was on the verge of abandoning football in favour of baseball, but his mother persuaded him to continue with it (happily for all Texas Tech college football and Chiefs fans). It was his junior year of high school when he had a big game in front of a Texas Tech assistant coach, and it was all downhill from there. He had committed to Texas Tech University, where he would play football and baseball.
– After high school, he was a top MLB prospect. In 2014, Mahomes started as Davis Webb’s backup quarterback until Webb’s season was cut short due to injury, and Mahomes took over as a true freshman. Mahomes would hold the starting job the next year under head coach and former Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, and Webb would be the backup.
Mahomes decides to focus on football
Mahomes’ football career progressed, but his baseball career slowed. He threw for 4,653 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions in the 2015 football season. He only appeared in three games that baseball season, getting no hits in two at-bats and allowing three runs as a pitcher. It was evident where his priorities lay, and by his junior year, he had completely abandoned baseball in favour of football. In the same year, against Oklahoma University, Mahomes established many NCAA, Big 12 conference, and Texas Tech records in a single game: single-game yards total offence: 819, and single-game yards passing: 734.
He led the country in practically every statistical category that year, including yards per game (421), passing yards (5,052), total offence (5,312), points responsible (318), and touchdowns (53). Mahomes was eligible to join the NFL draft in 2017, and instead of finishing his senior year as a Red Raider at Texas Tech, he chose to do so. Despite skipping his senior year, he finished his collegiate career third in throwing yards (11,252), touchdown passes (93), attempts (1,349), and completions (857), second in running touchdowns (22) and touchdowns responsible (22). (115).
It’s no surprise that the Kansas City Chiefs picked him in the first round and 10th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. Mahomes’ accomplishments have been well-known since his collegiate days. Mahomes’ time in Texas, particularly at Texas Tech, moulded him into the successful player he is today, from setting a record and becoming MVP in his first season as starting quarterback to two Super Bowl runs, one championship, and being named Super Bowl MVP (the youngest quarterback to ever receive the award). Mahomes grew up in Texas and has always been a Dallas Cowboys fan.
