Patrick Mahomes seems to notice he was No. 4 on NFL’s Top 100

Patrick Mahomes seemed to notice that he was listed at No. 4 on NFL’s Top 100.

The expectation was that Patrick Mahomes would be No. 1.

Maybe the National Football League wanted to create a little intrigue. Perhaps some persons wanted to upset the apple cart. Whatever the reason, they got everyone’s attention—even that of the player himself.

When the NFL’s Top 100 Players for 2020 list revealed the uppermost reaches of the list and showed Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and not Patrick Mahomes, was at No. 1, the responses came quickly. In fact, Mahomes himself seemed to notice his position.

What was so ridiculous about the list wasn’t just that Mahomes wasn’t No. 1. After the exciting year put up by Jackson, one in which he won the Most Valuable Player trophy, it could have been fine (although still wrong) if the list had went Jackson then Mahomes. It’s that Mahomes wasn’t even the second-best quarterback on the list.

Instead, Mahomes had to sit behind Aaron Donald (an arguable point) and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson before being listed at No. 4.

Yes, they had Mahomes at No. 4. That’s the same Mahomes who just won his team their first Super Bowl in 50 seasons. It’s the one who won MVP of that very game and MVP of the entire league the previous season. It’s the one setting records for overall production in early years of his career with each passing season.

It’s the one who just set a record for the single largest contract in American sports history.

There’s nothing wrong at all with any of the players listed above Mahomes. They are all superstars—incredible athletes who help make the NFL as popular as it is. But let’s be honest about the player who is at the nexus of this very sport, the one who has taken over the mantle of leadership, popularity, and success from Tom Brady.

The reassuring part of all of this is that Mahomes himself seemed to notice. While Twitter itself was on fire about the list as unveiled, it was good to see a man who is serious about his craft and wants to be the best. If he’s not recognized as such, Mahomes might find the very motivation to prove them all wrong—as if he hasn’t already.