Can Patrick Mahomes avoid Dan Marino's fate in Super Bowl vs. 49ers

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MIAMI, Fla. -- It's not a stretch to say that Patrick Mahomes has the NFL world in the palm of his hand. 

After sitting behind Alex Smith during his rookie season, the Kansas City Chiefs turned the keys over to Mahomes in 2018 and he promptly won the MVP award while throwing 50 touchdowns and racking up 5,097 yards.

Mahomes and the Chiefs fell short of the Super Bowl last season, but in his second season as starting quarterback, Mahomes piloted the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl in 50 years where they will meet the 49ers on Sunday in Super Bowl LIV. 

Sunday's battle in South Beach figures to be the first of many Super Bowl appearances for Mahomes. He's become the new face of the NFL just three years after many teams deemed the rocket-armed quarterback too risky to hand the keys of the franchise too. 

But nothing is promised in life or sports. 

The 24-year-old's meteoric rise to sport's biggest stage mirrors that of another young star who took the NFL by storm in 1984.

After making it to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season, Dan Marino lit the league on fire in his second season for the Miami Dolphins. The young gunslinger obliterated the NFL passing touchdown record, throwing for 48 scores and 5,084 yards in one of the greatest seasons in NFL history. 

Marino led the Dolphins to Super Bowl XIX, becoming the youngest quarterback ever to start in the Super Bowl. His path to instant glory was derailed by the NFL"s premier dynasty, as Joe Montana and the 49ers romped to a 38-16 win. After Marino picked apart the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys earlier in the playoffs, the 49ers switched to dime personnel in the Super Bowl and help Marino to 318 yards while intercepting him twice. 

Marino, then 23, believed he'd return to play again under the bright lights. His time, surely, would come.

It never did.

Marino never made it back to the Super Bowl and retired as perhaps the greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. 

The parallels are obvious. Marino, knowing what he knows now, has a touch of advice for the Chiefs star. 

"Just go out and remember how you got there, how you played each game, the things you did in those games to be successful and don't let it get away from you," Marino said in an interview organized by DAZN, via Reuters. 

"When I played in my [Super Bowl] I felt like I wanted to play it again the next day because it just happened so fast and it was over and we lost the game and I was like I wish it could be a three-game series or something."

Mahomes arrives in Miami as the bell of the ball. He erased double-digit deficits in each of the Chiefs' playoff wins, and now must stare down the NFL's fiercest defense and the franchise Marino couldn't knock off a quarter of a century ago. 

"I think no matter how many times you are here, you have to take the moment and enjoy it," Mahomes said. "I was telling my mom, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity that I hope I have a lot of times. You take in the moment, but you're always focused. You understand the reason you're here is to play football and win a football game. We understand that. If you watch this team we have fun doing it no matter where we are playing at. It's a great opportunity that I am having early in my career and I'm excited to go out there with my brothers and try to win." 

[RELATED: 49ers dare people to keep doubting Jimmy G ahead of Super Bowl]

Mahomes' opportunity arrives Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium where he'll face a team looking to establish itself as the next dynastic force in the NFL A fast, physical defense that presents challenges Mahomes hasn't seen yet in his NFL career.

The Chiefs star has dazzled and captivated the league and country with his wide-array of jaw-dropping throws since he burst onto the scene last year. Now, he has a chance to do what Marino couldn't and complete his rapid ascension to the top of the NFL.

Only the 49ers stand in his way. 

Programming note: NBC Sports Bay Area feeds your hunger for 49ers Super Bowl coverage with special editions of “49ers Central” all week (9:30 p.m. Friday, and 3 p.m. Saturday).

Also tune in at 1 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday for a two-hour special of "49ers Pregame Live" with Laura Britt, Donte Whitner, Jeff Garcia, Ian Williams, Kelli Johnson, Greg Papa and Grant Liffmann. That same crew will have all the postgame reaction on "49ers Postgame Live," starting immediately after the game.

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