Patrick Mahomes isn’t there yet so can we stop crowning him??
Dan Marino was slated to have enough Super Bowl rings that he’d have to buy new limbs just to house em’ all. One of the greatest QB’s in the history of the NFL didn’t disappoint statistically. He won games. Celebrated throughout football history amongst fans but yet he never won the big one! Nothing is promised. No matter the aura a player holds or the pace at which a player breaks records that seemingly looks impossible to surpass, nothing is ever promised.
Patrick Mahomes seems to walk on air when it comes to football. The king of the backyard, with a swagger like Mick Jagger, the arm strength of a teenage boy watching HBO after dark in the mid 90’s, Patrick shouldn’t be taken lightly in regards to quarterbacking. The current respect that he is getting as the most proficient passer in the league today is deserved and well earned. But it’s the crowning of Patrick that has me rubbing this patchy beard of mine. It’s very well possible to celebrate current greatness without “goating” a current player that hasn’t even reached his prime yet…or has he?
Who remembers the guy from the Eagles with the longest face in sports history. The quarterback that had a rocket for an arm? Who was annoyingly elusive and extremely cerebral when not arguing with Terrell Owens?
Donavan Mcnabb was electric. On pace to be one of the top 10 signal callers in NFL history. But the promise he showed didn’t come to pass. Things happen, Injuries happen. The butting of heads with other alpha teammates happen. Mcnabb was no slouch- when he was great, HE WAS GREAT! But the personal promise of a championship was never delivered. Not because of the lack of trying but because promises really aren’t ours to keep.
Imagine Tom Brady winning a Super Bowl and then never again. His story would be Eli Manning at best- but would he be the Tom Brady of folklore? We as fans challenged Tom to win again and again and again. We made Tom Brady pass Joe Montana in Super Bowl wins before crowning him the greatest quarterback to ever do it. There are no passes. There are no moral victories in the field of arguing about who is the greatest to ever do it. You either achieve it or you don’t.
If Patrick Mahomes ended his career right now, where would he rank? You can’t put him in front of Big Ben because he hasn’t won enough. Could you place him over Brett Farve (on the field)? Absolutely not. Are you gonna remove all the phenomenal things John Elway did in Denver for a young guy with a lot of promise?
I miss the days where we judged our players at the finish. There’s no waiting in this generation. Everybody is a goat. Everybody gets a trophy and their names on the wall. A few short years will get you Hall of Fame recognition and consideration only because you’re exciting and a falling throw that leads to an incompletion is celebrated more than the 2 yard dump off that wins the game. Patrick Mahomes right now is as impressive as jumping in the air and staying there (word to murda mook). But can we acknowledge his greatness without giving him the same crown that took Tom Brady a decade to earn? Or is his promise heavy enough to outweigh the crown that current fans have already gifted him? Promises are made to be broken but somehow it’s seems already written that Mahomes couldn’t break those.
Josh Pray