MIAMI _ Before Andy Reid believed in Patrick Mahomes and the NFL fell in love with the quarterback, Brett Veach was going on a limb. Now the Kansas City Chiefs' general manager, Veach was their co-director of player personnel when Mahomes was playing for the Texas Tech Raiders and scouting prospects was a pet project.
"This is the greatest player I've ever seen," Reid recalled Veach telling him all throughout Mahomes' tenure as the Texas Tech's starting quarterback in 2015 and 2016.
The Kansas City coach, understandably, wasn't totally buying it. Veach's evaluation had to have some hyperbole.
"I'm going, 'Well, that's a pretty bold statement. You've seen some good guys,'" Reid said. "He kept laying the tape on my desk and I'm going, 'This is like the greatest player I've ever seen.'"
On Sunday, Mahomes let Reid fill the one gap on his resume. The No. 10 pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, Mahomes wrapped up his second full season as the Chiefs' starting quarterback by throwing for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to lead Kansas City to a 31-20, come-from-behind win against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54 at Hard Rock Stadium. Mahomes, who won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award last season, became the youngest Super Bowl MVP in history. The Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years. Reid, the sixth-winningest coach in NFL history, won his first Super Bowl in his 21st season.
Mahomes will spend Monday at Walt Disney World in Orlando, as is tradition for a Super Bowl MVP, and he and Reid first stopped in at the Hilton Downtown Miami to close out South Florida's Super Bowl week. They will head back to Kansas City once they leave Florida, but they're the sort of core which could come back to the state soon.
Super Bowl 55, after all, will be in Tampa next year, and the Miami metropolitan area should be a serious contender to host either Super Bowl 61 or Super Bowl 62 in 2026 and 2027, respectively. A return to Miami Gardens is still a little ways off, but Mahomes is only 24 and Reid has some years left on him at 61 _ and said he hasn't given retirement any thought. While sustained winning is never guaranteed, the Chiefs have the foundation of a potential dynasty in place.
"I still enjoy what I'm doing," Reid said. "We've got this young quarterback over here who makes life easier."
Mahomes was the switch Kansas City needed to flip to keep Reid from coming up just short yet again. His quarterback rating was just 63.0 when he threw his first touchdown pass with 6:13 left in the game to cut the 49ers' lead to 20-17. What began as one of the worst games of Mahomes' young career turned into an MVP effort as he finished 26 of 42 for 286 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, plus a rushing touchdown and 29 yards on nine carries.
The Chiefs then celebrated on the field and in the Miami Dolphins' locker room, and then Reid, at least, spent his night watching Pitbull perform somewhere in the Miami metro area.
"He's got great endurance," Reid said.
So does Reid, apparently. He didn't get any sleep after the Super Bowl and had hundreds of congratulatory text messages to still sift through.
In the next few months, Kansas City will have some free agents to worry about _ most notably defensive tackle Chris Jones, and cornerbacks Kendall Fuller and Bashaud Breeland, who both had interceptions Sunday _ and there's an extension for Mahomes to figure out at some point in the near future.
The easiest way to sustain long-term success in the NFL, though, is to have a great coach and a great quarterback, and try to figure everything out around those two foundational pieces. In 2020, the Chiefs will have a great coach and a great quarterback, and they should have both in 2021, too.
Whenever the Super Bowl comes back to the Miami area, there's a good chance Kansas City will still have both, which means there's a good chance it will be playing for a title once again at the home of the Dolphins.
Mahomes has had an unprecedented three-year run to start his career. He's the youngest player in history to win both regular-season and Super Bowl MVP awards. Now he's trying to answer the same question he did after he won MVP has a first-year starter last season: How can you possibly top this?
"Win another one," he said. "That's it."
