Patrick Mahomes still wore his dirty jersey, grass-and-sweat stained as the celebration continued in the locker room. He had barely completed his third Super Bowl title, and his second in a row, before thinking about doing something that has never been done in the Super Bowl era.
“I’m going to celebrate tonight. I’m going to celebrate at the parade,” Mahomes said postgame. “Then, I’ll do whatever I can to be back in this game next year and try to go for that three-peat. It’s an ongoing thing in the NFL. Once you win that championship, you have those parades and you get those rings, and then you’re not the champ anymore. You have to come back with that same mentality.
“I’ve learned from guys like [Tom] Brady who have been the greatest of all time, at the top of the level. That’s my mindset. I’m going to celebrate with my guys for how we’ve done this, but then we’re going to work our way to get back to this game next year.”
The Chiefs became the first team to repeat since Brady’s Patriots in 2003-04 after Mahomes went 8-for-8 for 42 yards and a touchdown on the game-winning drive in overtime. Mahomes also ran for 27 yards and two first downs on two carries, including a fourth-down run.
He was responsible for 69 of the team’s 75 yards on the drive.
“I think the biggest thing for me is the way we did it,” Mahomes said of winning back-to-back titles. “The battle throughout the middle of the season, the continue to have that mindset of ‘we’re going to continue to believe.’ It truly is special. I’m going to try to stop getting down 10 points in these games and make them a little bit easier, but I was proud of how the guys fought.”
Brady has seven championships. Mahomes has three, winning the MVP award in all three.
If he’s not already in the conversation for greatest of all time, Mahomes might be this time next year if he’s able to do something that has never been done, not even by Brady.