Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes Speaks After Rallying to Victory Transcript

Patrick, what part of the journey really sticks out [inaudible 00:00:07]?

I think it was where we started at. We started in Texas in the off season, me meeting basically a brand new group of receivers and learning, learning what they did well, learning what we could get better at, and guys leading from there, man. I thought the guys accepted the challenge. It was a crazy year, but we ended up on top, man. You can’t ask for any more from those guys.

When you had the scramble play, I’m wondering how much was your ankle hurting tonight? How much was it hurting on that specific play?

I felt great until I kind of rolled it a little bit. I felt really good and then that happened and I had a lot of soreness going through into halftime. And was able to move it around and get taped up a little bit and go out there in that second half. And it didn’t feel good, but I was going to leave it all out there and I’m glad it was enough for the win.

Patrick, what’s this mean to you in terms of Andy’s success tonight too and your relationship with him?

Yeah, he’s one of the greatest coaches of all time. And I think everybody knew that, but these last two Super Bowls cemented that. And to have someone that is such a great person, who gets the best out of the players to become men and players, you wanted to do that. You wanted to win those Super Bowls for him. And it’s great that we did that. And like you said, man, we’re not done. I’m going to have him around here for a little bit longer at least.

[inaudible 00:01:28] you mentioned the extended halftime helped you guys rally and get your energy up. What do you recollect from the extended [inaudible 00:01:33] probably worked for you guys?

Yeah, no, I was proud because I talked a little bit, but it was everybody. It wasn’t like I was the only person talking in that locker room. And we just challenged each other to leave everything out there. And I don’t want to say we played tight in the first half, but you didn’t see that same joy that we play with and I wanted guys to just know that everything we worked for is for this moment. You have to enjoy this moment. You can’t let the moment overtake you. I thought the guys did that in the second half and they fought to the very end. That’s all you can ask is guys leave everything they have on the football field.

[inaudible 00:02:04]. Ten years ago you tweeted, “Man, how awesome would it be to win a Super Bowl and say I’m going to Disney World.” Here you are, going for a second time. How do you put all of this into perspective?

It’s hard, man. It hasn’t even sank in, I don’t think, even yet. I appreciate it because of the failures. The failure of losing the Super Bowl and losing the AFC Championship game, it gives you a greater appreciation to be standing here as a champion. And luckily, I’m going to Disneyland now, so I have Disney World and Disneyland crossed off. And hope they make some more parks so I can go around everywhere and do a world tour.

[inaudible 00:02:39] always talked about you guys being counted out off season. Does that make this win feel more special to you?

Yeah, I think it does. I wouldn’t necessarily say we were counted out, but there was a lot more critics than there was the previous years I had been here. And I told them at the beginning of the year, I said, “As long as Andy Reid’s coaching, we’re going to have success as an offense, and I trust in the leaders that we have on that defense.” And so to go from a team that wasn’t, I wouldn’t even say, majority picked to win the AFC West to win the Super Bowl, that speaks to the guys that we have in that locker room.

[inaudible 00:03:12] you looked better than during the week. You feel great, right?

Yeah, I felt really good until I re-aggravated it a little bit. But you’re in the Super Bowl. You can worry about getting it healthy in the off season. I just fought through and we were able to win the game.

Patrick, what do you think of Jalen Hurts’s performing? You had an MVP performance [inaudible 00:03:29]. If they had won, he probably would’ve been MVP.

Yeah, if there was any doubters left, there shouldn’t be now. The way he stepped up on this stage and ran, threw the ball, whatever it took for his team to win, that was a special performance that I don’t want it to get lost in the loss that they had. Even whenever we got all the momentum in that game and we went up eight points in the fourth quarter, for him to respond and move his team right down the football field and run it in himself for the two point conversion, it was a special performance by him, man. And you make sure you appreciate that when you look back on this game.

How would you describe … Thanks, man. How would you compare it to your [inaudible 00:04:08].

The first Super Bowl I thought was … obviously I didn’t win it the first year that I started, but I thought the first Super Bowl was just kind of like, “Oh, this is amazing. We won the Supers Bowl. This is happy.” Just like a little kid winning a prize at the fair, whereas this one, you’ve dealt with failure. You understand how hard it is to get back on this stage and to win this game. I played in a Super Bowl where I got blown out, where I got all hyped up and then you go out there and you don’t do anything. Then I lose the AC championship game in overtime, when I thought we had a chance to win the Super Bowl that year. And have a full brand new team and have to go through the strain of being better and better every single day, it gives you a greater appreciation for winning this game.

Patrick, do you feel like this is a greater achievement for the team than the last football championship?

Yeah, it’s a brand new team. Every Super Bowl it’s something that you’ll have for the rest of your life. I think there’s only 12 guys that were on that team that won that first Super Bowl. It might be a little bit more, but … So have a brand new team with a lot of rookies playing that stepped up. We were down 10 points at halftime to probably the best team in the NFL all year long. And they’re known for getting ahead of teams and kind of finishing the game off. And for those guys to step up and make those plays in that second half, man, it just speaks to the hard work they put in every single day. And luckily a lot of those guys are young, so we’ll have a lot of those guys back next year.

How do you think it helped you as a player to have to break in a new group of receivers [inaudible 00:05:33]?

Yeah, I had to become a better leader and I’ve always vocally talked, but I take a next step in my leadership ability of how I showed guys how we work and how I couldn’t let the little stuff slide because we have such great players around me that have done it for so long. And I had to teach the culture that we have here that I learned from Alex Smith and I learned from Derrick Johnson. I had to teach those guys the culture of how we work and do things. And luckily for me, I have guys like Travis and Frank and Chris that helped me out with that as well. I was proud of those guys, man, how they responded in this big game.

[inaudible 00:06:08] second time. Did you come from behind in a Super Bowl? I know one day we were talking that you have to ready to have dinner with [inaudible 00:06:16], with the Manning brothers, with [inaudible 00:06:19]. What are your thoughts about this?

Yeah, it hasn’t even sunk in yet. To be down to a team like that and to come back and win the game, I wish I’d make it easier and not be down, but I feel like I play better when we are down. So I’ll try to do whatever I can to learn how to not get in those situations and then start fast and finish faster. But you’ll look back on these games the rest of your life and you’ll watch these games when they’re on TV and stuff like that. And I’m just glad I get to enjoy it with some of the best men on earth.

[inaudible 00:06:49] mentioned a lot of guys that made plays-

Patrick, did you have to get a pain killing shot at halftime? If not, what sort of treatment did you get at halftime on your ankle?

I did not get a painkilling shot, but we did some stuff to get it ready to go for that second half.

Andy mentioned a lot of different guys who make plays. How about the one that Jerick McKinnon made in the moment, not going in the end zone?

Yeah, to have a vet like that who knows. All year long, he proved how smart he was on that football field. He’s like another quarterback back there and he made it a little closer than I wanted him to. We talked about it in the huddle before the play. But we needed it because I ended up losing so many yards when I was taking those knees. So it was a smart decision on him. And in that big of a moment, you want to run in and just score the touchdown, but we work on that stuff every single week to prepare ourself for those moments. And I want to give a credit to Eric Bieniemy because even though sometimes we get tired of listening to him talking about those moments, they always seem to happen in the biggest games and he makes sure we go over the details every single week about them.

Hey Patrick, what made a difference for you guys coming back from stand down in the second half?

I thought guys just, they embraced the moment. I think that’s the biggest thing is that first half, we were playing, we were doing some good stuff, but I feel like guys were getting consumed by everything around us and not just going out there and playing and enjoying this game that we’ve played since we were little kids. And guys talked in the locker room and we just said, “Let’s leave it all out there. Let’s leave it all out there for 30 minutes and see what happens at the end of the day.” And I thought guys did that. And I think the biggest thing was the offensive line. The way they were able to protect me in that second half, whenever we couldn’t use those chips, we couldn’t use that stuff to help them out against a great defensive line, that’s the reason we won this game.

Patrick, what went through your mind on that play, that [inaudible 00:08:30] yard scramble you took that changed the game [inaudible 00:08:34].

Yeah, yeah. No, they did a good job of covering the guys that I wanted to throw to. That was the biggest thing. And I got it going up up field and how the D-line rushed it, it left the lane. And I thought once I got out, I don’t know if you can see me running, I felt like someone was just right on my back the entire time. I haven’t seen the play, but I’m holding the ball up here somewhere. But you just try to get in field goal range, man, and we have a great kicker and you want to give him a chance to kick a field goal or score a touchdown. And we were able to get in that field goal range. We were smart at the end there and he was able to kick the field goal to win the game.

We’ll do a couple more. We’ll go to Steve. Go ahead, Steve. Go ahead.

Patrick, could you talk about Andy retiring? What do you think about that?

Yeah, it was news to me and obviously Coach Reid, he has every right to retire. He’s done so many great things for so long, but I could tell by how much he enjoys this that that’s not anywhere in the near future. And I know that we will have conversations before that moment happens and whenever that time is right for him, we’ll embrace it, man. But I’m glad that he’s sticking around because we feel like the job’s not finished.

Last one right here. Wait, no. Right here.

You talked about Andy gets the best out of you. Travis got emotional talking about the leadership. What does he mean to you guys and how does [inaudible 00:09:48]?

Yeah, I don’t want to talk about all coaches, but he’s the best coach I’ve ever had about how he connects with players from everywhere. And I think you heard Frank Clark talk about it during the media week that we did, is no matter where you’re from, he can connect with you and you can tell he cares about you as a man as much as he does about a player. And so if there’s something that’s going on in your life, he’s going to ask you about it. He’s not going to worry about how you’re practicing or hey, he needs you to be better here and here. He’s going to ask you what’s going on. He’s going to get that info from you, and then he’s going to do whatever he can to help. And I think that’s been the biggest thing. That’s why every player that leaves Coach Reid talks so highly of him because it’s not about … obviously, he wants to win football games and be great, but he cares about the men that step in that locker room and how he can make them better whenever they leave it.

Okay. Thanks, Patrick. Appreciate your time.