KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Arm was the first clue that Patrick Mahomes was some sort of unicorn mutant terminator, perhaps born on Krypton or bitten by a radioactive spider for good measure, with a capacity for shattering norms — the latest of which will be his much-anticipated return to the field on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
If you didn't apprehend something different about him from the most tangible evidence of how far he could heave a football, you might know it from the seemingly supernatural sense of awareness he's displayed constantly on the field since becoming QB1 with the Chiefs in 2018. Indeed, he's so much more than just the arm.
And you got another resounding dose of that right stuff in the seconds after he lay crumpled on the field against Denver last season with a dislocated kneecap that at least symbolically nauseated Chiefs fans.
Presto, no sooner was the kneecap crunched back into place on the field than Mahomes seemed to summon regeneration of his own limb. If you looked for it, you might have seen more swagger than limp in his stride into the locker room in what became his first steps back towards returning to play just weeks later.
When I asked Mahomes' close friend and Chiefs receiver Gehrig Dieter at the time about Mahomes' capacity to heal, Dieter laughed and said, "He's a special type of human."
So even as different as the circumstances were when it comes to potential head injuries and Mahomes' immersion in NFL concussion protocols since his breathtaking stagger trying to get up after a tackle on Sunday against Cleveland, Mahomes' DNA and lifelong ledger of true grit strongly suggested that if anyone might emerge through the process to return a week later it would be him.
Somehow, someway — kind of like it's been for the Chiefs as they've won 24 of their last 25 games (many either with double-digit rallies or by narrow margins) that Mahomes has started entering their AFC Championship Game meeting with Buffalo on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
So with Mahomes checking off all the protocols during the week, with one informed observer telling me what happened was more an MMA-style chokehold than concussion (with his wobbling rise nonetheless automatically engaging the "no-go" part of the NFL protocol) and others reporting similar news from within, it was scant surprise when he announced Friday that he'd been cleared to play.
Citing clearance by team physicians and an independent neurological consultant shortly after Friday's practice, Mahomes broke the news directly himself on a Zoom call with reporters.
"The week has been a bunch of testing, a bunch of different things to make sure I'm good to go and there's no lingering effects or anything like that. But everything's been good," he said. "I've went through what three or four different doctors have said. Everything's looked well, and I'm out of (the protocol) now."
He'd later add, "Luckily enough, I haven't had any symptoms and I'm able to play. I just prepared myself and controlled what I could control. And luckily enough, we're at where we're at now."
That last footnote acknowledging fortune makes an important distinction, one that reflects Mahomes' near-constant alertness to the implications of what he says and does.
As much as his ability to return to some degree might reflect his unique powers and resilience, he also knows he had only so much say in all this. Mahomes and the Chiefs were, in fact, lucky this wasn't what it immediately appeared to be.
Cynics might see it otherwise and speculate that doctors and the Chiefs would be casually or desperately reckless with this treasure. And surely there could be room for the devious to game the system.
But doctors charged with this responsibility know that this work is vital to Mahomes' health (as well as their own reputations) not just in this moment but also as the key to a potentially abundant future for the franchise. That's something that the Chiefs, and a coach in Andy Reid who is practically spiritually entwined with Mahomes, also understand too well to willfully manipulate.
So, sure, we might want to make this about macho bravado and focus on things such as Mahomes being cognizant of staying on the field a little longer to give Chad Henne more time to warm up or later running from the tent into the locker room.
But Mahomes delivered an important public-service message when he was asked how much his return reflects that nothing was going to keep him from playing on Sunday.
"You want to be out there, but you have to go through the protocols and you have to do everything the right way," he said. "You have to look at it long-term as much as you look at it short-term."
Accordingly, he helped make his own breaks by adhering to the process, pacing himself and consciously resolving to keep a positive attitude in "preparing myself as if I was going to play" before he knew he could.
Between that and improvement of the toe injury he suffered during the game that he also said "luckily enough ... wasn't as bad as it looked or (as bad as) it felt that day and the day after," Mahomes figures he can "go out and be myself."
The apparent luck of it all is tremendous news for Chiefs fans, even for NFL fans. And beyond just having Mahomes back, a pivotal factor in itself, it also at least further suggests fortune is smiling on the Chiefs for a second straight postseason — a crucial X-factor.
Much as they earned what they got last season, those favorable twists were a marked contrast to the Chiefs Experience of most of the previous 50 seasons and vital to their first Super Bowl triumph in half a century.
And thanks to both "a special type of human" and some indulgence of fate, the Chiefs as of Friday have greatly enhanced their chances of becoming the first team to repeat in 15 seasons and for Mahomes to keep breaking previously perceived limits.
