At this point, popular culture seems to have dozens of levels of popularity. It wasn't so long ago that we'd refer to stars as A-list celebrities or B-list and then perhaps D-list celebrities who were relatives of those who were famous or figures here and gone after their proverbial 15 minutes were up.
These days, however, we live in such a society of fractured interests that someone who is insanely popular among a particular subset of the population can walk by unnoticed in every other circle. Influencers and YouTube personalities, reality TV "stars", famous gamers, athletes, musicians, and the like—it'd be impossible for any one person to remain "in the know" about everyone and everything.
Consequently, it also makes it tough for any one figure to become so ubiquitous that they are recognizable to all.
Patrick Mahomes, however, is one such person. Not only is he the star quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, but he's also the most popular player in his entire sport of football. Even beyond that, however, he's also the sponsor of many products and the celeb in numerous commercials with ownership stakes in various pro teams and high-level investments in various enterprises. He's also a civic hero through his charitable foundation.
It doesn't hurt that Mahomes has won 3 Super Bowls as well.
Back to Mahomes' fame. The reason we bring all of this up is to note that it takes a rare person to be honored by a group of third-grade students at an elementary school holiday recital, but that's exactly what happened with the pupils at Cornerstone Elementary in Excelsior Springs, Missouri decided to change the words to a holiday classic to honor the Chiefs' quarterback.
Check out their performance below:
Writer's note: I will admit that I tried my best to get a transcription of the song's lyrics here for you but trying to discern what a group of dozens of third graders are singing en masse is a much more difficult exercise than one might believe. Suffice it to say, it's clearly about Patrick Mahomes being the best quarterback in the NFL and the rest was pretty much lost on me amid the cuteness and chaotic vocals.
We're not sure if Mahomes has seen the video yet for himself, but he's known that song for most of his life, so we've zero doubt he'll recall and appreciate their efforts.
Maybe we can get them to sing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Travis Kelce" next.