ATLANTA – Patrick Ma-homes' breathtakingly rapid ascent to being the NFL's next big thing became official Saturday. The quarterback's prolific season, in his second year as a pro and first as the Kansas City Chiefs' starter, resulted in the first of what could be many Most Valuable Player awards.
Mahomes became the first league MVP in Chiefs history and, at age 23, the youngest player to win the award since Dan Marino, the Hall of Fame quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, did so at 23 in 1984. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees finished a distant second in the balloting conducted by the Associated Press, the results of which were announced at a ceremony on the eve of the Super Bowl.
"The awards are awesome," said Mahomes, who was also named Offensive Player of the Year. "A ton of credit goes to a lot of people around me for putting me in this position."
Mahomes was the star of stars in an NFL season that was all about unstoppable offenses and superior quarterback play. The Chiefs moved up to select him in the opening round of the 2017 NFL draft and committed to him being the starter this season after he spent his rookie year awaiting his turn behind Alex Smith. During Super Bowl week last year, the Chiefs arranged to trade Smith to the Washington Redskins, with the deal becoming official last March.
The Chiefs were rewarded as Mahomes flourished in coach Andy Reid's offense. Mahomes threw passes from all arm angles and with almost-unimaginable body contortions. He threw no-look passes. He threw the occasional lefthanded pass. And, mostly, everything worked. He had one of the best passing seasons in league history, throwing for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and a passer rating of 113.8.
The Chiefs secured the top seed in the AFC playoffs. They hosted the Patriots in the AFC title game, which went to overtime. But Mahomes never left the sideline during that overtime session as the Kansas City defense could not stop the Patriots from crafting an opening-possession touchdown drive to win.
"I'm wishing I was playing this week," Mahomes said. "But at the same time, if you look back, we did so many great things this year. We have a lot of young guys. … We all wish we were in the Super Bowl. But we're going to use that as motivation for this next season."
