Photo Credit Candice Ebling
By Damon Knight, Tribune Correspondent
Super Bowl LIV is just around the corner and lately, it’s been tough trying to decide who to root for between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. So, the more I thought about it, the more I kept digging, looking for reasons to make my decision. Then, in a blink of an eye, I had an answer, the team I’m rooting for is the Kansas City Chiefs. I choose the Chiefs after discovering a little-known fact about their superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes, then 19, was a former draft selection of the Detroit Tigers in the 37th round of the 2014 MLB Draft. He is also the son of former reliever Pat Mahomes of the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Pittsburgh Pirates. However, Patrick would play football at Texas Tech and never baseball for the Detroit Tigers. Mahomes would spend the next 3-years at Texas Tech and eventually enter the 2017 NFL Draft, going 10th overall to the Chiefs.
Now 24, Mahomes has become a 2 x Pro Bowler, a First-team All-Pro, NFL MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year and an NFL passing touchdown leader. He’ll look to add to his impressive resume when they take on the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, February 2nd, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. According to the Tigers area-scout Tim Grieve says, “I’d be lying to you if I said, ‘Hey, I thought he was going to be this good,’” Grieve said Monday. “That being said, he showed you the things you see from him today: the creativity, the athleticism, the confidence, the charisma.”
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