A measly four starts into Patrick Mahomes' NFL career in 2018, Mahomes Mania already was at a fever pitch in Kansas City. So much so that we playfully pictured a version of the future in which a Mahomes monument stood alongside The Scout looking over the city ... and a roofed Arrowhead Stadium was known as the Mahomes Dome ... and State Line Road had been renamed Mahomes Pass.
None of that has come to be ... yet, anyway.
But the more Mahomes has become entwined with Kansas City, the more the not-yet-25-year-old is becoming enshrined here in momentous and indelible ways. His seemingly inexhaustible capacity to amaze and endear himself to the region was engaged in yet another way off the field Tuesday.
Only weeks since Mahomes signed a 10-year contract extension worth about $500 million, the Royals announced that Mahomes had joined their ownership group led by KC businessman John Sherman.
"He's proven himself to be one of the top professional athletes and competitors anywhere, and he's built a championship culture," Sherman said in a news release that noted the Major League Baseball career of Mahomes' father, Pat. "He loves football, but he also grew up loving the game of baseball. We look forward to many years of a winning partnership."
Now, it would be even more intriguing if Mahomes instantly added himself to the Royals' roster instead of just throwing out a first pitch like he did in 2018. Or if he, say, immediately announced a campaign for a downtown ballpark.
Then again, it's not his style to just try to take over (see: Alex Smith and the year of mentoring). And, more seriously, it would figure that his role would be relatively subdued and anonymous among 22 known investors ... particularly with his day job keeping him plenty occupied, assuming an NFL season will be played this fall.
Speaking of which, at one level, this fascinating turn reinforces the notion of the bond between the Chiefs and Royals.
That's happened in part because of the proximity of their headquarters at the Truman Sports Complex but it's been largely spurred by the communications departments of each team ... and perhaps strengthened all the more by the parallels in the paths to their most recent championships.
But mostly this reaffirms something profound and cool about the relationship between Mahomes and Kansas City:
He wants to be here, forever and ever, as much as we want him here.
Never mind if it's undoubtedly in part because of his magical relationship with coach Andy Reid, who seems as planted here as Mahomes.
The native Texan and now-international superstar, the MVP of the Chiefs' mesmerizing Super Bowl LIV comeback watched by 100 million, wants to be of Kansas City.
So much for the decades of envy of what other teams had, the tortured sense of curses and defeatism that came with a 50-year gap in Super Bowls and endless bizarre playoff losses.
Now any sports fan here has to feel more like, "Can you believe he's ours?"
"I love this city and the people of this great town," Mahomes said in a statement. "This opportunity allows me to deepen my roots in this community, which is something I'm excited to do."
If you haven't tracked Mahomes closely or been around him, those may seem like predictable and hollow words. But Mahomes is far more about substance than style, and he's one to say what he means, including when it comes to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
His actions have affirmed his affection for this area from the start.
Long before he was, you know, bringing "Whataburger" to Kansas City, remember when he wore jorts and a cutoff T-Bones jersey to the KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway? Or you could see him in a Royals jersey or jacket at Kauffman Stadium? (Imagine how much Royals gear he'll add now.)
Or you might have found him in Sporting KC garb at Children's Mercy Park. And at any number of concerts, hospitals and events, such as one at the Truman Library to read aloud Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go."
All of that ultimately in the name of staying put.
When I spoke with Chiefs general manager Brett Veach last August for a column on Mahomes "beyond the arm," Veach was eager to share a story that he and his staff found telling in multiple ways. After Mahomes hit a home run during the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend softball game last year, his first words into a microphone were, "I'm going to Worlds of Fun!"
"Only Pat would say 'Worlds of Fun,'" Veach said, noting the deviation from the traditional idea of going to Disneyland. "He hits the home run and he has the wherewithal and the understanding to keep it in Kansas City, to keep it here."
That's because to Mahomes, keeping it here is keeping it real. And he's all the more a pillar of the community now.
Even if it's hard to know how much direct sway he'll have, or want to have, among nearly two dozen known investors, we know this: Less than a year since Sherman and his group bought the team from David Glass, who died in January, Mahomes has added some financial heft and further prestige to the group.
And another vital local force _ a civic treasure who continues to find new ways to redefine what seems possible while further immersing and investing himself in the future of the region.
A region increasingly associated with an intergalactic star who seems to see this as the center of his universe to look out over ... even if it's not from the perch of a monument yet.
