FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, October 2nd, 2022
PATRICK MAHOMES SPEAKS TO MARIA TAYLOR FOR TONIGHT’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”
“You want to not like Tom, but he’s just like the best guy.” – Mahomes on Tom Brady
“Whenever you play against a Tom Brady-led team, you make sure you kind of keep that foot down on the pedal and try to do whatever you can to finish the game off.”
Coverage of Chiefs-Buccaneers Begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET; Followed by 8:20 p.m. ET Kickoff
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 2, 2022 – In advance of his matchup against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes spoke to Maria Taylor for tonight’s episode of Football Night in America, which begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
Mahomes discussed his relationship with Brady, his playing style, and how he would teach a young quarterback if he were a coach.
Click here to watch the full interview, portions of which will air in tonight’s FNIA. Following are highlights of the interview:
On relationship with Tom Brady
“You want to not like Tom, but he’s just like the best guy. So, it’s hard, it’s hard to not like him. But to be able to play in golf tournaments, and him give me kind of advice and stuff like that. I mean, he’s the GOAT. You want to learn from the best and it’s really cool to have that relationship with him.”
On advice he’s gotten from Brady
“The first thing was after the AFC Championship Game when we lost to him (with the Patriots). Obviously, I’m upset, sad, and I’m sitting in the locker room forever. I start to walk out and he’s there waiting. He could be celebrating. He’s going to the Super Bowl and everything like that. All he said to me, and it wasn’t a big thing, he said, “Hey, just keep doing it how you’re doing it. You’re doing it the right way.” As a young quarterback, you just go out there and play and try to have fun and do whatever you can to put your team in the best position to win. But when the GOAT’s saying that you’re doing it the right way, it kind of shows you that you are doing it the right way. So that was big for me.”
On what he’s learned from Brady
“Off the field, you learn how to manage kind of everything…I think that’s the greatness in Tom Brady; no matter how much off the field stuff he does, football is always the main priority.”
On playing a Brady-led team
“They take advantage of mistakes. That’s a big thing…If you make a mistake on the field, if I throw interception or if you have a fumble or if something like that happens, he’s going to make you pay and get points on the board and then he’s going to manage the game…So you got to go out there and play a near-perfect football game to win…Whenever you play against a Tom Brady-led team, you make sure you kind of keep that foot down on the pedal and try to do whatever you can to finish the game off.”
On his improvisation
“Well, Coach (Andy) Reid does a good job of letting us kind of have that creativity…When special teams are going, you’ll see Travis (Kelce) come up with ideas, you’ll see Coach (Matt) Nagy, you’ll see Coach (Eric) Bieniemy. You’ll see all of us kind of work together to kind of come up with these shovel passes or these fake quarterback motions and all these different types of stuff because we want to keep taking the game to the next level.”
On how he would teach a QB if he were a high school coach
“I always go back to the fundamentals first. You’ve got to learn the fundamentals, you’ve got to perfect those. Once they perfect the fundamentals, I’ll tell him you can have some fun and try some stuff out. But they’ve got to know that if they try some stuff out and it’s bad, I’m going to get on them.”
On being a dad and influencing his kids in sports
“I’m going to stay out of the way. I think that’s the best thing for me. I’m going to help teach my son, my daughter, all the fundamentals and like whatever they want to learn. Um but at the same time, I’m, I want to stay out the way and let it be about them.”
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Football Night in America is hosted by Maria Taylor and features Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison, former NFL head coach Jason Garrett, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, NFL Insider Mike Florio, and fantasy sports industry pioneer Matthew Berry. This week’s show is also co-hosted by Jac Collinsworth and Ahmed Fareed.
Football Night, the most-watched studio show in sports since its debut in 2006, begins every Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. The coordinating producer of FNIA is Matt Casey. FNIA is directed by Kaare Numme.
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–
