Patrick Mahomes Press Conference Transcript After Signing 10-year $500 Million Deal

Speaker 1: (00:32)
All right.

Brett Veach: (00:34)
Well, I’d like to start off by welcoming everyone to this Zoom today. It’s certainly historic day for the Kansas City Chiefs organization, our great fan base, the Chiefs Kingdom and really the entire NFL. If there was ever a player that was truly deserving of the largest contract in U.S. sports history, it’s definitely Pat Mahomes. Pat exemplifies excellence both on and off the field. Yesterday when I was with Pat and his family and his agents, Chris and Lee, we just talked about how amazing this relationship has been and really how we’ve come full circle in three short years. It started back in 2017. This organization, Clark Hunt and Mark Andy, we had a belief and a vision that Pat was going to be the next superstar in this league and really do things league hasn’t seen before.

And after a 2018 season that saw Pat throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdown passes while being named league MVP, following that up with a 19 season that saw him help us bring the first Lamar Hunt Trophy to Kansas City, our first Super Bowl win in 50 years and capping that off by being in the Super Bowl MVP. Here, we sat at the negotiating table, now it was Pat and his family putting that same trust and same belief in our organization. And a deal of this length doesn’t get done unless Pat truly believes in the vision of the Hunt family, the trust he has for coach Reid and his outstanding coaching staff, and our personnel staff. When you take a step back and look at this contract though, I think the most exciting thing of this contract, and I believe Pat would agree with me, is that this contract shows just a total commitment and love for Kansas City.

Pat wants to win, he wants to start a dynasty and he wants to do all those things here in Kansas City. And that’s extremely exciting for us and our fan base. So before I turn over to coach Reid real quick, I do want to give special thanks to his agents, Chris Cabot, Leigh Steinberg for really their openmindedness and certainly we’re all in this together. They wanted protections for Pat, but they also wanted to make sure that Pat was surrounded by talent. And it’s very important. I mean, Pat again is a long-term thinker and Pat understands the long game here.

And then on our end, my staff, Brant Tillis and Chris Shea just for their creative thinking. Certainly, there’s a lot of obstacles and hurdles to overcome on doing a deal of this magnitude and those two were outstanding. Again, the effort they put in, I just went to thank them so much for everything. With that, I’d like turnover to coach.

Andy Reid: (03:19)
All right. Thanks Brett. I’m so happy for Pat, for the Kansas City Chiefs organization and really for the city of Kansas City for having this opportunity to have a true franchise quarterback here in Kansas City. One that was drafted here, which hasn’t happened for almost the duration of the Chiefs organization. I think Brant did a phenomenal job of organizing this. Brett, I’ve mentioned before, had been instrumental in helping bring Pat to the Chiefs. I joke that he wore Dorsey and I out about bringing Pat here amidst quite all the glimpse on him and said he was the best player he’d ever seen. And so that’s come to fruition for all of us to witness, like Brett had.

Andy Reid: (04:19)
But Brett’s got a great crew with him, all of his scouts and guys that work with him. But in this instance, in particular Chris Shea and Brant Tillis who really I think Brant did a phenomenal job of organizing the numbers for this and the plan along with Brad of setting this up. And none of this happens without Clark Hunt, obviously. That’s a bold move. We’ve gone above and beyond and found something that is phenomenal for Pat and his family and also for the Kansas City Chiefs that Pat was so, so aware of the surroundings, like he is on everything, of making sure that not only was his deal done, but also that he wanted the organization to have an opportunity to be able to bring in players. In this day and age, that unselfishness is a tough thing to find at times. So my hat goes off to him and his maturity in this whole thing.

Andy Reid: (05:29)
And then Brett mentioned, Chris Cabot and the time that he spent over the last few years here, a couple years of visiting our building and he was always here and went above and beyond there to make sure that this all worked for Pat and his family and also the Chiefs, and then Leigh Steinberg, who’s got a tremendous history with quarterbacks in this league, it’s awesome. Listen, all in all, I think it’s a great thing. Very seldom do you come out of a deal and go, “You know what? It’s a win-win. It’s a win for the player, it’s also a win for the team, the organization.” And so I’m one happy guy. I put on my best Tommy Bahama for all of you today just to celebrate this. Man, this is a big day and it’s an awesome thing.

Andy Reid: (06:18)
And again, Brett and I just appreciate everything that the Hunts do. We’ve got a great president, Mark Donovan, who supports us on everything too, so it’s a great, great event here and everybody has a chance to celebrate it. With that, enough said. I’m going turn it over to the man of the day here, and that’s Pat. Listen, as we get to the questions, let’s really focus on directing the questions for Pat, and not that Brett and I are not going to be there, but we want them directed more in the presence of this situation and not making this just an all in all press conference here. I’m going to press conference for Pat in this great day in his life. So with that, Pat, I’ll turn it over to you.

Patrick Mahomes: (07:02)
Yeah. Thanks coach. Obviously, a very exciting time for me and my family. I want to give thanks to the so many people, but always first, I just want to give thanks to God for putting me in this situation. I mean, truly an amazing situation where I’m surrounded by a lot of great people, a lot of great players, a lot of great human beings who have supported me my entire career so far. And I talked to my family with Brittany, my mom and dad, my support team that has been with me the entire way, and that they still have continued to be with me and treated me the exact same, so I want to thank them. The Chiefs organization, like I said earlier, I mean, coach Reid, Brett Veach, Mark Donovan, Clark Hunt, everybody. It’s been a team effort the entire way.

I think that’s the special thing about this organization, is that like Veach said, there’s trust amongst everybody. As much as I trust in them, they trust in me. And we were able to go out there and get this contract done the right way, that not only gives me the security that I’ve always wanted, but also allows opportunity for the team to be great around me the entire duration of my career. I have full trust that things will get handled the right way as we go throughout this career and that we will be in a position to win a lot of football games and hopefully win a lot more championships as my career goes on. Other people I’m want to thank the Chiefs Kingdom. Obviously, their support for me has been tremendous since the day I got drafted. The fact that they’ve been behind me and supported me has been truly special and it’s one of a time thing.

I knew the moment I stepped on Arrowhead field that this was the place that I wanted to be for my entire career and I thought I’ve reiterated that my entire career that I’ve been here and can’t wait. And then my agents and my support team, for them to go out and do this contract and do it the right way, I told them what I wanted from the beginning. They brought me different options. They work hand in hand with the Chiefs the entire time and Veach and his team and coach Reid and all the coaches and they pretty much just put it out there and to the best way that, like I said, that we could be a great team moving forward and obviously have the security that I want.

It’s an exciting time. I’m just glad that I get to continue building this legacy in Kansas City, obviously with everything going on in the world, with COVID and all this different stuff to have this security to go into the community and be able to give back. I can’t wait to not only build this legacy on the field, but off of it. I’m excited for the future ahead for not only me, but the Kansas City Chiefs and the communities that have brought me up so far.

Speaker 1: (09:47)
All right guys, we’re going to open it up to questions now. First, let’s start with BJ Kissel. Go ahead, BJ. BJ, can you hear us? There you go.

BJ Kissell: (10:05)
Yeah, sorry. Sorry. Brett, my question is for you. And first, just congratulations for getting this done. I know it’s something you guys have said you’ve been working on for a while. The question would just be the timing on a contract like this, the amount of work that goes in to get it done. Can you help us just paint the picture of the framework and the amount of communication and how long it took for the framework to come into place and then obviously, the more details? Going back to the Super Bowl, Clark Hunt had mentioned that you guys had been in discussion. Just curious when it ramped up and how that process went down.

Well, really, it’s been set out there that going back to I think the first frequency that I was a part of back in 18, we had the mindset to structure deals to prepare for an extension for Pat. Again, it goes to the level of belief and faith we had in Pat, and this was before he was a full time starter. Now, the one thing in Pat’s favor is as the seasons went on, the number kept getting bigger and bigger. So we were planning for the normal quarterback mark back in 18 frequency. Well, when Pat gets to this point we’ll be right here. And then, it took off. So that certainly was a good challenge to have, but it goes back to my initial statement just Brant Tillis and Chris Shea, I remember when the Trout deal came out, Brant coming down to my office and said, “Pat’s going to be a baseball contract.” I mean, that’s how good this kid’s going to be and we need to start thinking like this.

The cool thing about it, and coach alluded to this, where the maturity level of Pat in this day and age, you look around in three-year deals, four-year deals, but Pat just was so committed to this city and wanted certainly security, like every player does, but also wanted to be here and to win and to establish a dynasty. And he said, “Shoot, let’s be creative. Let’s figure out a way to do this. I want to be here for the rest of my career and I want to win.” And so the discussions on this contract have really been news in the making.

Speaker 1: (12:16)
Let’s go to Adam [Tayser 00:00:12:17]. Go ahead, Adam. Adam, you got us here?

Adam: (12:34)
You hear me now?

Speaker 1: (12:35)
We got you, yup.

Adam: (12:36)
Brett, I wanted to ask you with regard to this contract, a lot of times when you give a contract on this magnitude or a big contract by NFL terms, I know you have given [inaudible 00:12:48], you’re holding your breath a little bit. You’re you’re like, “Wow, there’s some risk involved.” What’s your feeling in that regard on this contract, that not only Pat will be taken care of, but the franchise-

Speaker 2: (13:03)
Not only Pat will be taken care of, but the franchise will get its money’s worth on this deal.

Well, again it starts back from 2017, and it starts from the initial stages when we saw this kid, we had a vision. We knew that pairing Pat with Coach Reid was going to be something special and they were going to be able to accomplish things that the league hasn’t seen before. Again, you go back to league NVP performance in 2018 and then what he accomplished last year in helping our organization win the first title in 50 years. As Coach and Pat will tell you, there’s still a lot of improvement for Pat in his game and he’s still growing and learning, he’s hungry. But the kid… Listen, he’s on the call here, so it’s a little awkward, but he’s special. He’s a special kid and at such a young age he’s so mature and he understands big picture thinking. He understands that there needs to be a sense of long term thinking and, “I want to win a long time here in Kansas City. There are only certain ways that this can be possible and this is what’s important for me. I know I’m going to be taken care of the rest of my life, but I want to leave behind a legacy and Kansas City is the place I want to do it.”

Again, it’s just a special day and it takes a special kid to… Adam, you asked about our level of confidence in Pat and in this contract, and I think it speaks for itself. People can look at this any way they want to, but I mean this contract is a 10 year extension. This is something that we believe that there could be another small one after it, because that’s how confident we are in this kid.

Ryan: (14:45)
Let’s go to Sam Mellinger. Go ahead, Sam.

Sam Mellinger: (14:48)
Hey, Brett. Obviously, this contract is different because of the player and the dollar amount involved, but I’m curious if the negotiation was different based on just the comfort level, the relationship you had with Pat, but also with Chris Cabott and the agency there?

Yeah, I think that I would say that’s true. I don’t think… So many times it’s… Listen, every aspect of the NFL is competitive and deals are no different. It was unique in the sense that there was never a sense of, “We need to win this or we have to win this.” This was, “How can we get this done?” Again, that goes back to Pat. Because, ultimately, Chris and Leigh work for Pat. Pat has to have… Again, I keep repeating myself. This long term vision on what he wants his legacy to be.

There was never a sense… Again, I’ve seen it in all different forms and fashions with bigger deals and longer deals. There’s always a contentious point and I don’t think it ever reached that because we were just all on the same page. We were all committed to making this work. Certainly, Pat is deserving of the largest contract in US sports history. But, how could we get creative to recognize him, to set those benchmarks, but also find a way that we can surround him with talent? And, he can go out there and have fun and do the things that he’s capable of. I think Sam, to your question, I think that having that relationship… Again, going back to Chris and I talking about this vision back in ’17, and now that we’re here let’s continue this and how can we turn one Superbowl into two, three, and four, and continue to add to past legacy?

Ryan: (16:29)
Let’s go to Nate Taylor. Go head Nate.

Nate Taylor: (16:33)
Hello. Thanks guys for doing this. This is, I guess, two questions I have. One is for Brett and then one is for Patrick. For Brett, for you just how much of this… When you alluded to the fact that this was going to be more baseball structure, how much of that was designed around the idea of, even thinking back in 2018, of trying to figure out the best way possible to create more flexibility for you guys to build the rest of the roster around Patrick?

Nate Taylor: (16:59)
And then for Patrick. Given your background, and I know you alluded to this in May, the idea of learning how contract negotiations are handled through your father, understanding the baseball historical context of contracts of this magnitude, how much did that give you a perspective as to what you exactly wanted in terms of having long term security with the organization?

I’ll jump in there real quick on my end and I’ll let Pat go. His structure was something that was fluid. We had envisioned, certainly with Pat and having the tutelage of Coach Reid, a really good player. So, when we started doing free agent contracts in ’18, we did so with the mindset of structuring those deals to allow for a deal of a franchise quarterback level. Now, the bigger or broader concepts, the baseball type contracts, was something that as the 18th season went along and as we turned into the 19th season, Brandt Tilis, that was an ongoing project for him. He would literally come down to my office in the spring of last year and talk about, “I’m thinking about this, I’m thinking about that. Hopefully we can refine these ideas and concepts even more, then when we get to this stage we’ll have something to work from.” A lot of credit to those guys, but this was something that…

We talked about different forms of this and as Pat’s success continued to climb we geared more towards this type of concept. Again, just a lot of good foresight from the staff that I have working for me.

Yeah, and to answer your question to me. I would say it definitely played a part. I mean, obviously being able to talk to my dad about it, be able to talk to LaTroy about it and them going through the process. They didn’t sign that long term contract, but they saw players who did and they saw players who went about it. And, how they kind of got that long term security and were able to go out there and play free, knowing that they had the security that they had always wanted. That definitely was something that I was able to talk to them about and get a lot of information from them.

Look, I mean, you can’t… No offense, you can’t do this with every single organization. When you have an organization with the stability and the culture that we have in the Chiefs organization, I felt very comfortable and had a lot of trust that I could do a contract like this, knowing that we were going to have that same stability by the time I’m at the end of that contract.

Ryan: (19:27)
Let’s go to [Sarin Petra 00:19:27]. Go ahead, Sarin.

Sarin Petra: (19:30)
I thank you for the time guys. I guess for Brett and I’d be interested in Coach Reid as well on this. Just if you could kind of… You’ve said a number of times, maintain the ability to go out and put talent around Patrick, but the number is huge, right? Is there anything you can point to as to how that number doesn’t just cancel out the ability to put players around him? And, how can you have… What kind of uncertainty do you have with the COVID environment on what the salary cap is going to be? Right? This isn’t just a big commitment, it’s a commitment not knowing if you’re going to have fans in the stands, not knowing if you’re going to finish the season, and not knowing what the economic environment’s going to be. So, how much does that hang over this contract and really putting the team together the way you’re talking about?

Well, I think when you talk about these… These aren’t common, but when you have a structure like this, I think one of the things that’s beneficial for us is certainty in regards to what we’re dealing with every year. When these things don’t get worked out and you’re running into the final year of your deal or there’s tags here and there, and things go up, and then it becomes contentious. I think we’re dealing with a known factor now. We know where we’re going to be. We also know that there’s potentially a tough time ahead of us and none of us know exactly where the cap is going to be next year. We’ve kind of prepared for that, to some degree. But again, until you know exactly where it’s going to be you don’t have the final numbers. But, we’re dealing with known numbers, known figures, it prepares us for the future and it allows us to plan and prepare every year.

Like I said, when you have structure and stability that we believe ultimately is a success, and again this contract, the way it’s laid out, it just allows for us to have a definitive working number to work from every year. And, within this contract we can do certain things to create cap space, but now we’re dealing with something that we know as opposed to the unknown, which is never a good scenario for a team to encounter during an off season.

Andy Reid: (21:46)
Ryan, I’d probably just ditto what Brett just said. I mean, he covered about every base on it. But, I will tell you though, Pat… He was very conscious about the whole situation about being able to keep players. I mean, that was in the dialogue there and he made it known to us and however we can work that out we can do it. And then, Brett and Brant and Chris got together and they just mastermind the thing and made it work. And so, they came up with a plan and presented it to Chris Cabott. And Chris had some ideas, so between them they were able to formulate something here.

Andy Reid: (22:37)
I would just say, Clark Hunt, who is brilliant and he’s got a phenomenal mind, in particular with business, a business mind. He also was able to oversee this and understand it, and put in whatever input he had on it. He’s more aware of the COVID situation than anybody, being the owner of the football team. He felt comfortable with it when it was all said and done that we’d be able to go forward and still be able to sign players, even if the cap does decrease a little bit.

I will say this too. That if the ownership thing doesn’t work out for Clark, he’d be a great cap guy because it was… It’s funny how we’re so buttoned up and we’d been working on concepts and ideas for this for multiple years. Again, this deal can go as smoothly as it could’ve gone, but when we did run into a couple different hiccups it’s amazing how quickly Clark had an answer. As Coach mentioned, certainly Brant and Chris put in all the leg work there, but Clark always has a few tricks up his sleeve and he’s extremely… We extremely appreciate his oversight on this for sure.

Ryan: (23:58)
Let’s go to Bob Fescoe. Go head, Bob.

Bob Fescoe: (24:00)
For Brett and Patrick both. What was your expectation when the conversations first started about getting a long term deal done in Kansas City? What did you both kind of have in mind and how did you think it was going to go?

I’ll let Pat go.

Yeah, I mean, I think Coach Reid has already kind of touched on it a little bit and I think I’ve said it a lot in some press conferences that I’ve had in the past. Obviously, I wanted the security to take care of my family and my future generations of family, but I also wanted to keep really good football players around me. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and lie and say that having a great football team around me doesn’t help me when I’m on the field. And so, I wanted to find the best way that I could do that. I felt like as we talked and as, like you said, Chris and all these guys. Chris, my agent, and all these guys talked. They came to me with this idea and this concept of obviously making me financially secure, but having the ability to go out and resign all these guys. We’re returning 20 or 21 of the 22 starters. I knew that this was the way that was going to be the right way to do it, where we can accomplish both of those things that are so important to me.

I would just add that we were a little ahead of the game just because of the ongoing dialogue that we’ve had for a year plus. Sometimes you get into these negotiations and both teams are starting from scratch and both ideas and concepts are from left field. But, because we had a unique relationship dating back from before the draft process to almost every home game. As Coach mentioned, Chris always being here and there was a lot of times Chris spent the pregame discussing some of the things that actually came into play right before the signing. So, we were ahead of the game, Bob, in that regard just because we had so much dialogue leading up to this.

Ryan: (25:57)
Let’s go to [Herby Tiopee 00:25:58]. Go ahead, Herby.

Herby Tiopee: (26:00)
This question is for Coach Reid. Hey Coach. When I-

Herby Tiopee: (26:03)
Hey, this question is for Coach Reid. Hey Coach, when I think of a great quarterback and head coach tandems, Brady/Belichick, Brees/Payton, Favre/Holmgren. What does this contract do for you and your coaching shelf life, when you know you got Mahomes in Kansas City for the next 12 years, and you’re going to be in your young 70s? So what does this do for you?

Andy Reid: (26:22)
My young 70s, huh? Listen Herbie. I haven’t gotten to that point mentally where I’m thinking about retirement. I love doing what I’m doing. One of the great things about this job is you look forward to coming to work the deal with guys, the players, the coaches, and I’m lucky enough to be around good players and coaches. And then this guy here makes it even better. So he has a… We always talk about the great quarterbacks make everybody around them greater, and he has a unique ability to do that with his teammates. And the Honeybadger is a part of this too, so he was the first guy that texted myself and Brett When the deal got done. We got a text from Tyrann and he just said, “Hey, what a great thing you did.” But both those two make our jobs very enjoyable, being able to come to work and have two great leaders like that, along with the other guys that love to play the game. So listen, if it takes me into my 70s, let’s roll, Herbie. Dog gone it, I’m ready to go.

I’ll second that. The Honeybadger is texting me five times, he’s messaged me on Instagram and Twitter. The dude’s hyped up, for sure.

Speaker 3: (27:48)
All right guys, we got time for a couple more with Coach and Brett before we let them go and roll with Patrick. Let’s go to Sam McDowell. Sam, go ahead.

Sam McDowell: (27:58)
Hey guys, thanks for doing this. This is for Brett and Patrick. I wondered, at what point during the conversation did the length really settle sort of exclusively on a longer term? Was it a shorter term deal, like four, or five, six years ever discussed? And what was the motivation, or at least, what sides sort of drove the conversations to focus more exclusively on something like 10 years?

Well listen, I mean, Chris and Lee, and I don’t want to speak for Pat, but just my take on this was they had two big wants. And that was protection for Pat, and then surrounding Pat with talent. And Coach and I know as well as anybody that if Pat Mahomes is healthy and there’s talent around him, it’s unstoppable. And so, the framework was, how can we get him the most in protections, and at the same time, continually to allow him to have great talent around him? So it kind of started in the longer term, again, and this goes back to the agents working for the player, Pat being very mature for a young age, and understanding that I have a great city, great fan base, great ownership, hall of fame head coach.

It’s going to be hard to beat this. And how could we put Pat in a position where he is the highest paid player in the game, which he is? And on top of that, do so in a format that will continue to allow us to have talent around him? And so, again, I give credit to their staff of just wanting to do a legacy deal, and not just a cash deal. And that’s what people have to understand. And in saying that, it’s easy to say that, but you have to have a special and a unique person like we have in Pat to understand that, “Hey listen, I’m going to make more money than I’ll ever know what to do with, and I just want to see all organization reward other players. And I want to see myself surrounded with these players, like the Badger, and Tyrique, and all these guys.”

So I joke with Chris. I said, “It’s almost impossible to do the biggest contract in sports history, and have a player look unselfish.” But somehow, Pat again, is able to do this in a unique way where he’s the highest paid player in the game, and will be for a long time, yet does so in a way that allows us to reward his teammates along the way. It’s very unique, and I don’t think the city should take that for granted. I know they won’t, but again, I think, back to my opening statement, that this contract and the length speaks to Pat’s love and commitment to Kansas City. He wants to win, and he wants to do it here in Kansas City.

Yeah. I mean, I’ll second that. And like he said, he probably hit it right on the head. Like he said, I went in there with an open mind. I went in there with those two concepts, I wanted to keep great players around me, and obviously reward them for being great players, and being a great teammate and everything like that. And I wanted the security that I’ve always talked about. And I feel like once this concept came to me, I was all aboard. It was all about the details at that point. And I thought the Chiefs organization did a great job, and I had a lot of phone calls with Chris and Lee and them, interrupted a few golf games about every single day. And so I went in with an open mind, and when the concept came to me, I loved the idea, and we were able to do it the right way, and I’m excited for the future ahead.

Speaker 3: (31:46)
All right guys, I know Vahe has a question for all three of you, so we’ll close out Coach and Brett with questions from Vahe. Go ahead, Vahe.

Vahe: (31:56)
Hey guys, congratulations. Just so much has been said about trust in all this, and it’s obviously pretty essential. I wonder if Patrick, you could just describe going back with Andy and Brett to how you became to trust them so much? And if all three of you could just speak a little bit more to that point about how your relationships drive this?

Yeah. I mean, I think a trust is something that’s built, and I feel like with my three years that I’ve been in the Chiefs organization, you see the trust that everyone has within each other. Everything that Coach Reid says, everything that Veach says, and everyone in this organization says, that most things happen. And they put in the work every single day. It’s like a challenge, if I can try to beat Coach Reid, or Veach to the facility one of these days., I mean, they put in as much effort as anyone. And then when you have a culture like that from the top down from Clark Hunt, all the way down to the… I’m sorry, my dogs are barking. To the 75th, 90th, whatever it is, man on the roster, I mean, that trust and that culture is something that I wanted to be a part of. And it’s something that’s built every single day, and it’s been built every day I’ve been a part of this organization.

Andy Reid: (33:08)
Brett, you want me to jump in here?

Yeah.

Andy Reid: (33:11)
Right. So Vahe, I would tell you that when you talk about team, you talk about trust. I think it’s one of the biggest factors when you’re dealing with an organization and a team. If I can’t trust Mark Donovan, Clark Hunt, if I can’t trust Brett Veach, and then the players, and keep an open book with everybody in the group here, then we have a problem. Then you’re not going to sustained winning. And so we’ve tried to strive for that, and not only do we do it with Pat, but the coaches do it with their players, and don’t say something that you can’t back up, or that you don’t mean. And so the players, eventually it takes a little bit of time here now, but the players eventually end up trusting that you’re going to try to do what’s right for them.

Andy Reid: (34:07)
And then likewise, in the organization, we try to do the same thing with one another. So try to be as honest as you can with people so that they’ll trust you. And sometimes honesty is a tough thing, especially in this day and age. But with all this technology, there’s no better time to be honest than right now. You’re held accountable for everything that you say, so it’s best to be truthful or don’t say anything. So anyways, that’s kind of how we roll. Brett, I’m sure can add onto that, too.

Yeah. And listen, both Pat and I got to learn from the best in Coach Reid. But look, when I come into the facility every day, I know, and Pat knows that there’s not going to be a team in the NFL that’s more prepared to play on Sunday. And Coach and I know that when we’re in the building, that there’s not going to be a quarterback that is going to be more prepared to play. And I’d like to think that Pat and Coach know that when we enter a free agency or draft, that our staff will be ready to go and be prepared. And again, it’s just accountability. It’s knowing that we trust the guy next to us to do their job, and we feel like we have some of the best in the NFL to do it.

And it’s that trust, it’s infectious. So then it spreads to everything, it spreads to contract negotiations and player relationships. But everyone knows that there are really no egos in a business that is it’s hard to really avoid, but everybody wants to see each other succeed, and we’re able to operate under those guidelines, and Coach Reid is the one that sets the tone for that and we just follow his lead.

Speaker 3: (35:45)
Brett, Coach, we appreciate you guys joining us. We’re going to let you hop off and continue on with Patrick.

All right, great.

Andy Reid: (35:51)
Thanks guys.

Thanks.

Speaker 3: (35:55)
All right, we’re going to start with BJ Kissel for Patrick. Go ahead, BJ.

BJ Kissell: (36:02)
Thanks Pat. And again, I know you’ve heard it before, Patrick, but congratulations on getting the deal done. And I’m sure a lot’s gone through your mind lately, but for you going back to high school, and the decision that you made to pursue your passion of playing football in college. I know you were playing baseball too, but turning down more than a $1 million signing bonus, how does it feel now? And have you had a chance to think back of just what it means to you to kind of bet on yourself in that way and win from a financial perspective, but also the message that you can now share, just about telling everyone to trust in yourself, follow your passions, all those things that you’ve preached, that you’ve kind of lived it now?

Yeah, I think I haven’t really reflected on it yet, honestly, but I think the biggest thing is like you said. That’s just how I’ve always been built, it’s how I’ve always thought of myself. It’s just to follow my passions and do whatever I can, the best of my ability. And it’s something that was instilled in me with my parents when I was young, and I still believe the same things today. And it’s never been about money to me. Obviously, it’s awesome, and it’s an exciting time for me. But at the same time, I’ve always just been about being the best person, the best player that I can be every single day. And this is, I believe, another step in the journey that’s just beginning, and I’m just excited that we have this done, and I have that security where I can go out there and be the same player that I was, and that same person that I was the day I stepped into this league.

Speaker 3: (37:26)
Let’s go to Pete Sweeney. Go ahead, Pete.

Pete Sweeney: (37:29)
Hey Pat, congratulations. Thanks for taking some time. I was wondering, I know that you had been tweeting and you did a couple interviews over the summer watching The Last Dance and Michael Jordan’s career, and what he was able to accomplish. And you have had one of the most outstanding starts to any NFL career. And I was wondering how much maybe that legacy idea of, you want to put together, not only a good year or two, but a good 15 years, how much of that went into, “Okay, even though I’m going to make this really big number, I’m still allowing this organization to surround me with pieces so that maybe I can achieve things that no one else ever has?”

Yeah. I mean, I think it happened even before that. I think watching The Last Dance, and watching Michael and all the stuff that he did, and that he’s done, and all the success he has. I mean, it’s just affirmation. It’s something that I’ve always believed in those things about the legacy, about going out there and being the best player, and having the best teammates around me. And it’s not about one person, it’s about the team. And I think that’s the biggest thing, and I think you see that with our whole entire team. As you see, we have a lot of these guys coming back that want to be a part of this. They want to be a part of this culture, they want to be a part of trying to build a dynasty, because those things aren’t easy to do, and we understand that. So it’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication. I feel like we have that with the guys we have in this locker room.

Speaker 3: (38:49)
Let’s go to Terez Paler. Go ahead, Terez.

Terez Paylor: (38:53)
Hey guys, thanks for doing this, Patrick. Congratulations. I thought it was really interesting what you said about your godfather and your father. There are certainly some people around the league who did want you to-

Speaker 4: (39:03)
… father. There are certainly some people around the league who did want you to tie the field goal percentage of the cap. But I’m curious exactly what LaTroy and your dad told you about why it was so important to build a contract that was beneficial for both sides and wouldn’t be a super contiguous negotiation.

Yeah, I think the biggest thing that they preached to me is the same thing that I had already thought. It was good just to hear them and it’s that you want to have great players around you. You don’t want to be a guy that takes up all the money and then all of a sudden you’re having to find different guys that will take cheaper deals because I mean, you want to … Those guys need to be rewarded as well. It’s not about one person and I truly believe that. I know the situation that I was brought into and how good of a situation it was right at the city year behind a great quarterback who taught me a lot and I got to play with a lot of great players the moment I stepped on the football field.

And so I understand that I have a bigger perspective, I guess you would say, of how to go out there and obviously get the security that I want, but at the same time reward the guys that have helped me be the person that I am and be the player that I am. And I feel like with the contract and how it was done, I feel like I got both of those things. We’re going to be able to reward players and keep a lot of these guys around that have built a culture even before I was here. And at the same time I have the security that I know that my future generations will be able to have.

Speaker 3: (40:22)
Let’s go to Harold Coons. Go ahead, Harold.

Harold Coons: (40:25)
Hey, Patrick. Congratulations. That’s really big. When you hear that number 503 million, I know all of us were kind of astounded when we heard that number. When you hear that and everything you went through, what does that mean to you? And also how do you push this forward with all your off the field stuff? And how do you use your name, use your legacy to push everything that goes, everything that you do amazingly off the field as well?

Yeah, I think that’s the main thing. I mean, obviously in the time that we are in right now, I mean, there’s so much opportunity to go out there and try to help the world become the best place that it could possibly be. And I feel like having this security and this trust and that within the organization and obviously the financial help I’ll be able to do that and not only in the Kansas City community where I hope the impact as much as I can as quickly as I can, but hopefully around the world. And so to have the trust in the organization to be behind me and not only on but off the field as well, I feel like I’ll be able to make a huge impact in this world and in many ways, and I’m just excited for the next step and to continue doing whatever I can to help achieve that.

Speaker 3: (41:29)
Let’s go to Steve Walls. Go ahead, Steve.

Steve Walls: (41:32)
Congratulations, man. This deal will push you in elite company, not only in football, but in all of sports. In your mind, does that raise the pressure or expectation in your level of play? And can you also, can you walk us through when you received the call from Lee or Chris saying that the deal was done?

Yeah. I don’t think it raises the pressure, honestly. I mean, I think that’s just to me, the money never was the main objective. To me, it’s all about going out there winning football games and winning with your teammates and your brothers and the culture that you’ve been a part of. And that’s what it was always about. I mean, last year I felt like I had just as much pressure on myself to go out there and win after falling short in the NFC championship game the year before. And I feel like going into this next season, I will have the same amount of pressure of going out there and showing that it wasn’t a fluke and now you want to go and try to find a way to go back to back, which is so hard to do in the NFL. But it’s something where it’s not about the money to me.

It’s about going out there and winning and not only for myself, but for the guys around me. And then I got the call actually on July 4th. That deal, I mean, there was minor, minor details that still had to get finalized, but Chris called me and told me that the numbers were where they were at. Obviously y’all have all seen and that we had gotten the guarantees and the guaranteeing mechanisms that were kind of one of a kind that we haven’t seen so far and that gave me that security. And so I knew that once that was in place, that after that, it’s just the little details. And so I got that on July 4th and ended up signing on July six. So it was a great, great July 4th, seeing the fireworks in the backyard with my family.

Speaker 3: (43:14)
All right, guys. I know we’ve still got a lot of hands up here, but we’re running out of time. We’re going to do our final three and we’re going to go, Adam, Sam and Matt Derek. Go ahead, Adam.

Adam: (43:22)
Hey, Patrick. Congratulations on the new deal. You said earlier that once this concept came to you, you were all on board. Why were you so willing to go so many years on a contract rather than sign for a shorter period, maybe see what things look like then? And also, are you going to make sure Andy stays around for all 12 of these seasons as well?

Yeah. I talked to him I think before I signed the deal, and what he said to y’all, he had no thoughts of even retiring anytime soon. So, I mean, obviously that’s a huge part in it. I think having Brett Veatch, a young general manager who’s done a great job of drafting and getting and putting a lot of great players around me was definitely another huge boost of confidence of this 10 year extension. But yeah, I mean, I think there’s positives to either or contracting. Sign the short term contract and kind of almost like that bet on yourself type thing, but also, I mean, you never know what can happen in this sport. I mean, I think that’s the biggest thing about football. So for me having a 10 year contract knowing that, I mean, things obviously could happen.

The economy could boost, but at the same time, I mean, you look at the world that we’re in today and stuff could happen that way too. So I just wanted to have the security of knowing that I’m going to be a Kansas City Chief for a long time. I’m obviously going to have enough money that I’ll be able to help out future generations, my grandkids, their grandkids, and everything like that. And at the same time, I mean, I think we did a good job with Chris and Brett and all those guys of having enough money to pay all the guys around me and I think that was what the huge, the biggest thing of the deal that I loved about it is we’re going to be a good football team for a long time. It’s about going out there and just executing and finding ways to win.

Speaker 3: (45:06)
Let’s go Sam Bellenger. Go ahead, Sam.

Sam Bellinger: (45:08)
Yeah. Hey, Patrick. Congratulations just like you’re hearing from everybody else. Look, I know you have a lot of trust in Chris and Brett and what they do. I also know that you’re very detail oriented person. I’m just curious beyond, I wanted to hear for a long time, I want the team to have money to pay other guys. How into the weeds, how into the details did you get in this negotiation with them?

Yeah, I was pretty, pretty deep in there. I mean, when I told Chris … I was talking about Chris called me. He called me pretty much every day that he had a conversation with the Chiefs to get updates and everything like that. And so, I mean, these deals take a little bit of time and they’ve been talking for a long time about these deals. And I felt like I was very informed in what was going on. And I think the biggest thing to me was kinds of those guaranteeing mechanisms in the later years in the contracts. That was kind of a deal sealers to me of knowing that they had full trust in me and that the Chiefs are going to do whatever they can to have the best team around me every single year until hopefully the end of my career.

Speaker 3: (46:10)
Let’s go to Matt Derek. Go ahead, Matt.

Hey, Patrick. Congratulations. You and everybody have been talking about the ability to add talent around you and Brett referred to the fact that this at least puts firm numbers and you’ve got flexibility to make changes later. What is your kind of expectations about whether this is going to be a firm ten year deal? Do you expect to have the team come to you and renegotiate at times to move money around for cap purposes? And do you feel like this gives you an opportunity to put a voice in who’s around you on the team?

Yeah, I mean, I kind of leave that to Veatch and Coach Reid for the most part. They’ve done a great job of building great teams wherever they were, if that was in Philly or if that was in Kansas City. They built great teams and pick the right players. So, I mean, obviously they come to me sometimes and ask me a few questions here and there and I give my input, but that all comes down to them pulling the trigger and getting the right guys. And so obviously with the deal and how it was structured, I will have a lot of room to move money around and keep great teams around.

And you’ve seen a lot of great quarterbacks do that in the recent years with Rogers and Stafford and all these guys who do these different types of things. And I wanted to have that flexibility to do that because you want, like I said, you want to have a great team. You want to be in the playoffs every year. You want to be competing for championships. And that’s my goal. And so having that flexibility will be key to having success year in and year out.

Speaker 3: (47:43)
Patrick, we have one more guest that I think that wants to congratulate you. David, can you hear us?

David: (47:50)
Yeah, guys, I got to say I’m a little disappointed there wasn’t one smart ass question asked. So I guess it falls to me. Mr. Mahome’s, I’m sure you have a rich appreciation for NFL history and all the great quarterbacks. And I consider you one of the great quarterbacks and you probably know this. Johnny Unitas with the Baltimore Colts in the off season worked at a towel store. Now with this new contract, do you feel like you are in a position now where you can stop working at the towel store in the off season?

I think it’s will take a few years before I have to give up that one. That’s a stable job that I can have and have a steady income. So I don’t know if I’m going to give up on the towel store. I mean, plus you get free towels. Who doesn’t love free towels? When you get out of the shower, a nice dry towel every time.

David: (48:45)
You are a good kid. One follow up question, the Chiefs have a lot of employees and it’s a standard thing everybody has to do. So are you going to be filling out a weekly time sheet?

I don’t know about that honestly. I’ll have to get to Coach Reid and get a valid answer for you and follow up. I think Brad V can get it to you.

David: (49:09)
Okay. And one last question. These deals are tough. A lot of negotiating going on and they incentivize them a bunch of different ways. It’s been reported and it’s just a rumor that at one point there was a higher … You guys were looking for a higher cash incentive, but then you would also have to take ownership of the Las Vegas Raiders and that was able to keep your prices actually lower because you refused that deal.

Oh, I didn’t get that information, but I heard that I’m going to get a lot of ribs out of this deal. And I heard that I know a guy that has a rib place out in LA that might be able to help me out with that.

David: (49:44)
Yeah. It’s my house. I work out on my porch. Come on by.

Thank y’all.

Speaker 3: (49:51)
Patrick, we appreciate you joining us. Hopefully we get to see you soon.

See you.

Speaker 3: (49:55)
See you.

Patrick Mahomes Press Conference Transcript After Signing 10-year $500 Million Deal

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