Patrick Mahomes has always been a winner, as newly-unearthed footage shows

Some athletes are simply born to win. Michael Jordan is a prime example — he won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Tom Brady went from overlooked late-round draft pick to a seven-time Super Bowl champion. In 20 MLB seasons, Derek Jeter won five World Series titles as the starting shortstop — and team captain — for the New York Yankees.

Patrick Mahomes is well-placed to continue that winning tradition and end his career as one of the most successful athletes in history at his current pace. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback has already won the Super Bowl three times, adding the NFL’s most prestigious title to a trophy cabinet that also includes two regular-season MVP awards. Winning is really nothing new to Mahomes — and as recently-uncovered footage shows, the 28-year-old really has been doing this since he was little.

A literal lifetime of winning

The Chiefs’ account on X (formerly Twitter) has posted a video of a very young Mahomes sinking a game-winning bucket during a youth basketball game. The footage is grainy and shaky, but the shot — a long-range heave toward the basket — proves that Mahomes, in a yellow jersey, has always had the “clutch gene” in him.

Mahomes’ penchant for comebacks and late-game heroics was enhanced during the 2023 playoffs, when the third-seeded Chiefs knocked off the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens to reach Super Bowl LVIII. There, Mahomes threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman as the clock expired in overtime, sealing a 25-22 win for Kansas City and Mahomes’ third Super Bowl MVP.

Mahomes surprised many when he became the Chiefs’ starter in 2018 and immediately became the NFL’s top quarterback. Nothing he does on the gridiron now surprises anyone anymore — and maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised in the first place. After all, winning is all Mahomes does.