Getty Image
With Patrick Mahomes on the verge of potentially winning a third Super Bowl title by the time he’s 28 years old, the conversation surrounding Tom Brady’s record of 7 has obviously become an increasingly discussed topic.
Asked about how long he plans on playing in the National Football League, Mahomes directly name-checked Brady and said that he hopes to do the same.
“You want to play as long as they’ll let you play. Obviously, Brady did it and some other guys have done it, so I’m gonna try to strive to see if I can do it as well,” Mahomes told the media on Monday.
“I don’t want to play until I’m hurting the team,” Mahomes said. “So if I can go out there and have success, and still love it every single day, I think that’s the biggest thing, and put the time and effort into it, then I’ll play. And if I feel like I’m helping the team, I’ll go out there and do whatever I can to keep doing that.”
If the Chiefs do beat the Niners in the Super Bowl, they’ll be the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are not only playing in consecutive Super Bowls, but this is their fourth appearance in the big game in the last five years.
Given the advancements in diets, training routines, recovery, etc., playing until their 40th birthday is now more possible for professional athletes than ever.
Still, Brady’s success past his 40th birthday remains something of an outlier. Just look at Aaron Rodgers, for example, who tore his Achilles just four snaps into the 2023 season as a 39-year-old.
Heading into Super Bowl 58, Mahomes and the Chiefs are 2-point underdogs against the San Francisco 49ers.