Bill Belichick has spoken out on the debate over whether or not Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes can achieve a record similar to that of legendary New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
In his new memoir (shared ahead of release with The Independent), The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football, the former head coach of the New England Patriots admitted what kind of similarities he saw between the two players. “You know what? Brady and Patrick Mahomes are both really good. Controversial, I know,” he wrote.
Belichick wrote that Mahomes “probably isn’t going anywhere” given his success so far. He said that the Chiefs' quarterback reminded him of Brady, specifically noting one interview he gave after the Chiefs won a game.
“I feel like I haven’t played very well, and that’s not a stats thing,” Belichick recalled Mahomes saying. “I just feel like I’m missing opportunities whenever they’re out there and not throwing the ball in the exact spot I want it to be at.”
“By putting himself on the spot, by publicly doubting the basis for the W that he just secured, Mahomes sent a powerful message to, and about, his entire team: ‘This may look okay right now, but it’s not going to be good enough in the end,’” Belichick wrote. “And that says to me that the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere as long as number 15 is on the field.”
He explained that Mahomes and Brady had the same mindset of focusing on improvement and avoiding creating a weakness before it becomes the reason their team loses.
Belichick also admitted that he could see the Chiefs’ coach, Andy Reid, one day writing his own book claiming that he “had the greatest QB of all time.”
Ahead of this year’s Super Bowl, in which the Chiefs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, Mahomes and his team had the opportunity to become the first to win three Super Bowls in a row, something Brady never achieved for himself despite his seven Super Bowl wins.
Following the game, Brady touched on the loss for Mahomes during the Fox broadcast. “I think about, unfortunately, the three losses more than the seven wins, it hurts to lose this game,” Brady said.
“That loss to the Giants was 17 years ago, I still haven't lived it down as you care so deeply, I know the Chiefs do as well, Patrick too.”
He continued: “The reality of a loss in this game is, you don’t ever get over it, you go in with such high expectations as you won Super Bowls before, but you have a 34-point deficit with six minutes and 50 seconds left, I feel like you have to go out there in those last six minutes and just as you expect you would.”
The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football hits shelves on Tuesday.
