KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The first meeting happened over brunch in a restaurant in the suburbs of Dallas. On one side of the table sat the people who loved Patrick Mahomes the most: his father Pat, his mother Randi, his younger sister Mia.
On the other side sat two men gaining ground quickly: Leigh Steinberg, perhaps the most well-known sports agent in the history of the profession, and Chris Cabott, now the president and COO of Steinberg Sports & Entertainment.
The moment represented ground zero in the recruitment of a Texas Tech quarterback who would soon change so many things _ the NFL, whichever team drafted him, and whoever signed him.
This is the story of how a small agency landed a quarterback so good he'd win the NFL's MVP award in his first year as a starter, and what we can learn about Mahomes from the decision.
"It's definitely a huge process," Mahomes, who turns 24 next month, said. "It's like choosing a school when you're going to a college."
Except bigger, in some ways. Especially for Mahomes. His college decision came fairly easily. Texas Tech was the only school from a so-called Power Five conference to offer him a scholarship to play quarterback.
But his father estimated as many as 10 firms reached out in the year before the 2017 NFL draft, from giants like Creative Artists Agency that offered bigger infrastructure to smaller boutique firms that focused on personal attention.
The experience can feel a bit surreal, with strangers desperate to become friends, promises flying, visions being sold. Mahomes felt that more than most. He'd only been a full-time football player for a year, after all.
"We didn't even know he'd come out early yet," Pat Mahomes Sr. said. "We didn't know that. That wasn't his plan yet."
Today, we know that Mahomes is a virtual lock to sign the biggest contract in league history after this season, when he becomes eligible for an extension with the Chiefs. We know that the Chiefs' front office and Mahomes' agents will start banging out the framework soon.
We also know he will be worth every dollar, both in terms of what he does for the Chiefs' Super Bowl chances and what he means to their bottom line _ in tickets, suites, merchandise, sponsorships, national exposure, franchise value ... everything.
