Monday, 4 a.m.
Would you buy a new car from this man?
How about a luxury watch?
A cheeseburger? A new suit? A Disney vacation?
Today, it starts. In every ad agency with a medium-sized account, execs are going to start imagining their protects in the hands of Patrick Mahomes. After all, if he can sell his Chiefs on another comeback, he can sell you a pair of shoes.
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A pizza? A walk-on movie cameo? A video game?
Oh, wait. Maybe a new pair of season tickets. That'll do.
Patrick Mahomes became the hottest commodity in pro sports Sunday night, leading the Chiefs from yet-another-double-digit situation to the team's first Super Bowl championship in 50 seasons.
Imagine the situation. Mahomes' team was behind 10 points more than halfway through the fourth period. He faced a third-and-15 situation at his own 35 with 7:13 to play.
And then it started.
On the next play, Mahomes found Tyreek Hill for 44 yards to get the train rolling. Mahomes finished off that drive with a one-yard pass to Travis Kelce.
After two incompletions, Mahomes hit six straight passes for 61 yards to tie his the team that lead.
There in the confetti, you could remember Hank Stram, with his rolled-up program and the dead animal on his head, on the sideline. You could remember Lenny Dawson and Curly and Buck and Willie and Bobby.
There have been other great Kansas City players, and other great Kansas City teams. But this was special. Mahomes ended up with 286 yards passing. At 24, he's certainly young enough to do this a couple of more times.
For a while, it seemed like San Francisco was going to spoil the party. The 49ers , one year after going 4-12, after four straight losing seasons, took a 20-10 lead behind a good defense and a surprising start by Jimmy Garoppolo, the forgotten quarterback. Mahones wasn't his usual explosive self in the first half because of that defense.
(Just a thought: Did John Lynch have a terrible week or what?)
Other young quarterbacks in the NFL -- Baker Mayfield, Deshaun Watson, Sam Darnold, even Lamar Jackson -- will look at Mahomes with envy. What, they might ask, does Mahomes have that I don't?
Well, there is a Super Bowl trophy.
That's a start.