‘He taught me so much about being a pro’: Mahomes reflects on rookie season behind Alex Smith

NEW ORLEANS, La. (KCTV) - In life, many of us have mentors who show us the ropes of our profession. For Patrick Mahomes, it was Alex Smith – even though Mahomes was drafted to take Smith’s job.

Smith was the former top overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. He had a wealth of knowledge to along to Mahomes, who was the team’s heir apparent at quarterback.

“He taught me so much about being a pro,” Mahomes said. “I know that sounds so simple, but whenever you are coming out of college and you’re still 21 years old and you’ve been going to college classes, to be all football, all the time – it’s a profession, not a hobby, not something you do for fun – you have to learn. Especially at the quarterback position, there is so much that goes into it other than playing football. I think I learned that from Alex.”

During Mahomes’ rookie year in 2017, Smith had the best year of his career – throwing for more than 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns. Mahomes says his year on the bench watching Smith helped his development.

“All I knew to do was continue to just get better and better and prepare myself for any moment,” said Mahomes. “It helped that Alex was such a good guy, and he went out and had so much success that it was like, ‘What am I going to do? He’s just leading the league in ing. How can we even get any better?’”

But the Chiefs did get better with Mahomes under center and began one of the most dominant runs in NFL history. Even though the pair were only teammates for a season, Mahomes says his bond with Smith is strong.

“He’s become a friend, someone I can look to for advice and look to showcase what I can do at different stages in my life and in my career,” Mahomes said. “I think it was amazing for me to step into a room with him every single day.”

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