KANSAS City Chiefs coach Andy Reid believes Alex Smith helped make Patrick Mahomes the player he is today.
Chiefs quarterback Mahomes, 29, is targeting a fourth career Super Bowl ring on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are hoping to achieve NFL history and become the first team ever to threepeat.
The Texas native is a two-time MVP and has already cemented himself as one of the league’s best ever QBs.
Mahomes took over from former Chiefs quarterback Smith as starter in 2018.
After being drafted in the first round a year earlier, the ex-Texas Tech play-caller spent a season at Arrowhead as backup.
And coach Reid believes watching “ultimate professional” Smith from the bench was the making of Mahomes.
“I’m not saying he couldn’t have been as great as he is now if he didn’t sit, but being with Alex Smith I thought was something you can’t buy,” Reid said.
“He was able to sit there and watch a guy who’s the ultimate professional, on and off the field, and just get an idea of the lay of the land of how things work in this league.
“I think that’s helped him in that part of his career.
“I’m sure if he stepped in as a rookie he probably would have been just as great as he is now, but that helped, for sure.”
Smith spent 16 seasons in the NFL and was Comeback Player of the Year in 2020.
He suffered a devastating fracture to his right tibia and fibula during a game against the Houston Texans in November 2018.
The 40-year-old developed necrotizing fasciitis and required 17 surgeries over a grueling 9-month period.
Smith wasn’t expected to ever play football again, but somehow returned despite doctors initially fearing his leg would have to be amputated.
He spent five seasons with the Chiefs, all of them as starter.
Smith threw for over 3,000 yards in every season in Kansas City, racking up 109 passing touchdowns.
He also reached three Pro Bowls and in 2017 was the NFL’s passer rating leader.
Since hanging up his cleats, the ex-quarterback has become an ESPN analyst.
He is also a keen cyclist – despite the enormous toll football has taken on his body.
In 2023 he biked 200 miles across Massachusetts for the Pan-Mass Challenge, per the Boston Herald.
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