We are perpetually looking for the best option. So when Patrick Mahomes punched his ticket to the fourth Super Bowl of his young career, comparisons of him to Tom Brady were inevitable.
For his part, Mahomes is taking it all in stride. The Chiefs quarterback, who has two Super Bowl rings at age 28, knows there is still a lot of work to do before he is ready to be in the conversation with the Greatest of All Time.
Brady won seven Super Bowl titles, including his last against Mahomes and the Chiefs in 2021, before his retirement after the 2022 season.
“I’m not even close to halfway [in Super Bowl rings]. I haven’t thought about it much,” Mahomes said. “Your goal is to be the best player you can be. I know I’m lucky to be surrounded by great players around me. And now I’m doing everything I can to beat a great 49ers team and try to get that third ring and then if you ask me that question, in 15 years I’ll see if I can get close to seven.
“But seven still seems like a long way off.”
Travis Kelce, who has been Mahomes’ teammate for all seven seasons of the quarterback’s career, can at least see the trajectory. Mahomes is on track to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Kelce said.
“I see him right now. I see him moving up, I see him, he has the right mindset every day, every year to get better and make those around him that much better,” Kelce said. “So with the success he’s had, he’ll always have the opportunity.”
The start of Mahomes’ career certainly rivals, or even surpasses, that of Brady. Mahomes is completing his seventh season in the NFL and his sixth as a starter. In that time, he has had more seasons in which he made the Super Bowl (four) than he came up short. He has won two MVP awards and has been a Pro Bowler every year he has been a starter.
In Brady’s first seven seasons (six as a starter), he won three Super Bowl rings and two Pro Bowl nods, but had not won an MVP trophy. From a statistical point of view, his numbers are also quite timid compared to Mahomes’.
| Tom Brady | statistics | Patrick Mahomes |
| 96 | Games | 96 |
| 21,564 | passing yards | 28,424 |
| 147 | Passing TD | 219 |
| 78 | Interceptions | 63 |
| 61.9% | Completion percentage | 66.5% |
| 70 | QB wins | 74 |
| 7.0 | Yards per attempt | 7.9 |
| 224.6 | Yards per game | 296.1 |
| 88.4 | Classification | 103.5 |
| 239 | hasty attempts | 374 |
| 435 | Fast yards | 1936 |
| 3 | fast TDs | 12 |
But Brady played for 23 total years in the NFL, won a record seven Super Bowl rings and had three MVP awards to his name. And if you’re someone who likes head-to-head matchups, he also beat Mahomes in their only two playoff meetings, which were in the AFC championship and the Super Bowl.
“Passing Brady says a lot. Tom did this for so many years, he’s so respected for how he did it,” Kelce said.
Beating the 49ers in Super Bowl 58 could go a long way toward bolstering Mahomes’ resume and making the conversation between him and Brady even closer.
For now, he’s still enjoying the opportunity he’s been given to play for the Chiefs and hopes to put together another excellent effort outside of the Super Bowl.
“I understand how fortunate I am to be in the situation I’m in: being drafted to Kansas City, having Andy Reid as my coach and Travis Kelce as my tight end,” Mahomes said. “I got recruited here and ended up with all these guys.
“And I don’t want to look back on my career and say I regret how I went out and performed every day, if that works, if that’s watching movies, whatever. And if I give everything I have, I can be satisfied with the results.” results and that is what motivates me every day.
