It turns out the National Football League owes serious credit to some of Major League Baseball’s greatest players of the ’90s and ’00s. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes says he learned so much about the proper approach to being a professional athlete bye growing up around them as his father, Pat Mahomes, pitched in the Majors for most of his childhood.
Specifically, Mahomes says it was eye-opening to watch truly great athletes like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez behind the scenes in those years. While Jeter could make a diving stop or drive in the go-ahead run, and while Rodriguez could crush a massive home run and tip his cap to the crowd in response to an ovation, these players didn’t rest on their laurels when it came to the game. In fact, it was their dedication that set them apart—the necessary ingredients that allowed them to shine so bright when the lights were on.
Mahomes recently sat down on the WHOOP podcast to discuss a number of subjects, and his preparation and approach to the game was a major part of the conversation. The podcast is hosted by WHOOP Founder & CEO Will Ahmed, who brings in a variety of successful figures (professional athletes, famous chefs, medical researchers) to hear more about human performance in every category and how we can improve ourselves in the process. It’s not surprising then that Mahomes was asked about his own work behind the scenes as the game’s best young quarterback.
Patrick Mahomes says he learned the right approach to the game from MLB greats.
Mahomes says he learned early on that he would have to spend hours doing the “little things” when no one was looking in order to be truly great. And he said figures like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were ones who taught him these things.
“One part of it is I grew up and I’ve always envisioned I was gonna be a professional athlete. I thought that was the way I was gonna go and not really having a backup plan was how I was gonna spend my life. At the same time, I was seeing the great athletes and how hard they work. That’s where I really learned the most. You see guys like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter hit home runs and make all these plays, but you don’t see how they put three to four hours before every single game just working on the fundamentals. I think that’s what got me to where I’m at, just knowing I gotta put in the work to be where I want to be at.”
Mahomes has certainly embodied this same professional demeanor for others who are watching him. While the jaw-dropping plays of a no-look pass, an effortless deep strike, or even a diving shortstop-esque pass attempt in a Super Bowl are the plays that make highlights, Mahomes has always talked of improving at his craft. . Mahomes says he learned this lesson honestly through his father’s insistence on hitting off a tee in baseball, even when he felt ready to graduate from such a stage.
“I think one thing that always sticks out to me is I remember when I was young, my dad made me hit off a tee a lot. When I got to coach pitch and regular kid pitch and stuff like that, I never wanted to hit off a tee. Well then when he got on the Rangers, I saw Alex Rodriguez who was MVP doing all this other stuff and every single day, he’s hitting off a tee to start his day, just working on the fundamentals. That stuck with me forever. No matter how good you get, you always have to work on the base fundamentals if you want to be great.
“You don’t want to do the little things sometimes. You just want to go out there and have fun, but the little things are what make you so successful. That’s stuff I work on now every single day.”