Patrick Mahomes’ sprint into the record books deserves a deep rewind

There is an NFL before Mahomes, and an NFL after. This is the story of how that change came to be.

Some of the best sports stories don’t adhere to the actual rules of storytelling. There’s no middle act for Patrick Mahomes and the NFL: He was barely more than an unknown through most of his college days, then shot up draft boards thanks to his raw talent and scouting buzz. There’s no training montage or hard lesson he learns on the way to stardom.

That doesn’t mean Mahomes was considered for a lock. Not even close! As a Draft prospect he was panned for his decision making, throwing style and pretty much every other facet of his game that made him what he became. Which is kind of crazy, isn’t it? Because what Mahomes became fundamentally changed what the league demands of quarterback prospects, and what we thought possible of NFL QB play.

And that’s the lesson here: Patrick Mahomes made the NFL believe almost immediately, which is way more important than following the rules.