Patrick Mahomes Is Arguably the Best Player in the NFL, but He Might Be Even More Skilled at Another Surprising Sport
Patrick Mahomes is arguably the best player in the entire NFL. The 26-year-old has already made three Pro Bowls, won an MVP award, and led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory in just three seasons as the starter.
However, Mahomes might be even better at a completely different sport that not many fans would expect: Ping-Pong.
Patrick Mahomes is one of the best players in the NFL
Mahomes was a superstar athlete growing up in Tyler, Texas. He was obviously an uber-talented quarterback in his teenage years, but he also excelled on the basketball court and the baseball field at Whitehouse High School.
When it was time to choose a college, Mahomes decided to pursue both a football and baseball career at Texas Tech. But after his sophomore year with the Red Raiders, he quit baseball to focus solely on football. It’s safe to say he made the right choice there.
Mahomes eventually made it to the NFL in 2017. He famously sat out his rookie season as the backup to Alex Smith, but he won the job a year later and has exploded since then. The quarterback threw an NFL-high 50 touchdowns in his first season as a starter, and he led the Chiefs to an AFC Championship appearance before falling to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
The next year, Mahomes and the Chiefs went all the way to the Super Bowl and defeated the San Francisco 49ers. They reached the Super Bowl again in 2021 but lost to Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s three AFC Championship appearances, two Super Bowl appearances, and a championship in his first three years as the starter.
In 50 career starts, Mahomes has thrown for more than 15,000 yards and 128 touchdowns. He’s already on his way to a Hall of Fame career, and he might just be the NFL’s best player already.
But Mahomes might be even more skilled at Ping-Pong.
Patrick Mahomes’ best sport might be Ping-Pong
It’s hard to believe Mahomes could be better at any other sport but football, but it might just be true.
A new Mahomes feature from The Athletic detailed how serious the QB is about table tennis. Hunter Rittimann, his former teammate and roommate at Texas Tech, told The Athletic that Mahomes’ best sport “might be Ping-Pong.”
Mahomes has a table at his house and plays all the time when he’s not on the football field. He approaches the game the same way he approaches football, and he regularly studies his opponents to find their weak spots.
“He can blend power and finesse — and he takes immense pride in his defense,” per The Athletic.
Note to self: Don’t challenge Mahomes on the football field or the Ping-Pong table.
Flexing on the competition
Mahomes memorably flexed his muscles after scoring the first touchdown of Super Bowl 54 against the 49ers, but that wasn’t a celebration he forged on the football field. The flex actually stems from his table tennis prowess.
Nic Shimonek, a former backup QB at Texas Tech, told The Athletic that Mahomes loves to talk trash on the Ping-Pong table. And whenever Shimonek lost, Mahomes would flex his right arm the same way he did in the Super Bowl.
Maybe Mahomes has a second athletic career lined up when he eventually retires from the NFL.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
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