Patrick Mahomes just accomplished the impressive feat of winning his third Super Bowl, but the star athlete already knows what would make him stop playing in the NFL.
During a recent interview with Time, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback looked ahead to the day when he’ll hang up his cleats and walk away from football.
The 28-year-old, who was named one of the magazine’s most influential people of 2024, said that being a dad will play a role in how quickly that day will come.
“I would love to play that long,” he continued. “At the same time, I want to be there for my daughter. If I can do that, I’ll continue to play. But if I feel like it’s taking away from my family time, that’s when I’ll know it’s time to go.”
Mahomes shares 3-year-old daughter Sterling Skye Mahomes and 1-year-old son Patrick “Bronze” Lavon Mahomes III with wife Brittany
Mahomes, whom he has been married to since 2022.
With three Super Bowl rings before the age of 30, Mahomes is already in the greatest-of-all-time (GOAT) conversation with NFL legends like Brady and Joe Montana, and some fans have been speculating if he will play as many seasons as his predecessors. Brady retired “for good” from football in February 2023 after 23 seasons. Montana was a star in the league for 16 seasons before calling it quits in 1995.
Mahomes, who has played in the NFL since 2017, told Time that Brady changed expectations for how long a professional athlete can still compete at the highest level.
“Tom’s skewed people’s brains on how hard that is to do because of how well he took care of his body,” he said.
He shared, “At the end of my time, I just want to say that I didn’t leave anything out there. My family and football are the first things I want to be great at.”
The quarterback continued, “If I can go out there and say that I gave everything I had on the football field, expectations are what they are and whatever is going to happen is going to happen. And I can be satisfied with that.”
Although he prioritizes his family and football, he has other interests and goals he hopes to accomplish off the field. He told the publication that he wants to host “Saturday Night Live” one day. (His close friend and teammate Travis Kelce hosted the NBC sketch comedy show in March 2023 and made a surprise appearance in a skit during the Season 39 premiere in October 2023.
There’s just one problem, which he revealed to Time. “I have a little bit of a fear with the teleprompter,” he shared.
If “SNL” doesn’t work out, he is also open to putting his baseball skills on display during spring training.
Mahomes, who the MLB announced in 2020 became a minority owner of the Kansas City Royals, said he has discussed participating in preseason
practices and exhibition games with his local baseball team.
“I’ve talked to the Royals. And if I can maybe go out to a spring training, I’m not opposed to that,” he shared. “ I’ll get it approved by
the Chiefs and everything like that. But maybe one of these years I go out there and see what I got. See if I can still hit the ball or pitch or whatever that is. Maybe not in the games but I can at least practice with them.”
