Scott Bedgood

The first time I ever saw Patrick Mahomes II he was losing. Badly.

I was a 17-year-old sports reporter for The Tyler Morning Telegraph and Sports Editor Phil Hicks had sent me out to cover the 2008 Texas East Major League State Championship game at Faulkner Park. This is the age group that gets to go to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the Little League World Series and gets on ESPN. It’s the one time you get the chance to be a national star as a 12-year-old.

Patrick was the best player on the team by a mile. The best hitter, the best pitcher, the best fielder. He’d led the team to the state championship final and was fighting for that chance to make it to Williamsport. But baseball is a team sport, and although they were a talented squad, they ran up against a much better team that night.

For those kids, this was the biggest moment of their lives and it was all going wrong. In fact, they lost 7-0, made four errors, and got no-hit. This was nearly 16 years ago. I’ve covered thousands of other things in my career as a journalist since. I didn’t actually remember most of those details, but I looked them up.

What I do remember was the building disappointment on a young Patrick’s face and the pressure that he was carrying on his shoulders. He wanted to do everything himself, to try and will the team to a victory that was getting away from them. He made uncharacteristic mistakes and he grew increasingly frustrated.

It was a completely understandable feeling. He had no idea what he was going to become in the future. He wasn’t thinking ahead to three Super Bowl titles by the age of 28. He didn’t see a $500-plus million contract coming.

All he saw was his and his friends’ dream slipping through their fingers.

I walked away from that game thinking I’d potentially seen a future Major League Baseball player. Of course, no one knew at the time that he would take so well to football. But I’ve followed his career from afar ever since, knowing there was something special there. It’s been fascinating to see him grow as a leader.

He’s faced a lot of disappointments in his career. So many of his games at Texas Tech were reminiscent of that Little League game. He did everything he could and it just wasn’t enough (losing to Oklahoma despite passing for 734 yards comes to mind). The knock on him in college was his penchant for forcing passes in tough circumstances and throwing interceptions. This was one of the biggest reasons people doubted him in the NFL Draft. But the Chiefs saw something in him. They didn’t just see the arm talent or the physical attributes, they clearly understood that he could be the leader they needed to take them to the mountaintop.

His growth as a leader was palpable throughout Super Bowl LVIII. Kansas City had three points at halftime, the equivalent of pitching a no hitter against Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Chiefs offense. He even came out and made a big mistake to start the second half, throwing a bad interception while trying to force a big play. But he didn’t panic. He didn’t show frustration. He didn’t compound one mistake with several more. He trusted his teammates, his coaches, and his own preparation to get them through.

And in turn, his teammates looked to him for calmness and leadership. They knew that if Patrick was calm, they could be too. So when they were down by 3 in overtime, facing a 4th & 1 that would end the game if they didn’t convert, they knew they just needed to do their jobs, make their blocks, and follow their leader. Patrick converted it with ease and led them on a Super Bowl-winning touchdown drive. After the fourth-and-1 conversion, the drive was as anti-climatic as a Super Bowl-winning overtime touchdown drive could be because Mahomes and his teammates were so in-sync, so trusting, and so calm in the face of adversity.

I don’t know Patrick personally. I’ve met him a few times during my career as a journalist, but I’ve never gotten a chance to ask him about that Little League game. Maybe he doesn’t remember it at all. But I would bet he does.

Although that confetti-strewn field in Las Vegas on Sunday night was a far cry from the field at Faulkner Park on that summer night in 2008, I think the lessons he learned from that loss and the many other challenges he’s overcome in his career are what have led to his unbelievable successes. The lessons are in the losses.