ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Maxx Crosby kept running into star athletes over the summer, from NBA great Kevin Garnett to former NFL wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., and the instant connection they shared made the Raiders' star pass rusher think about another athlete he keeps coming across a couple of times a year.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The reason was simple: “He's the ultimate competitor,” Crosby said.
“Like, I've had the honor to meet some of the greatest players, greatest people, greatest dudes across all different types of walk of life,” Crosby explained, “and I could say this: Like, when you meet somebody else that's an ultimate competitor, and that is all what you're about, I don't even have to say nothing. It's just, you click right away.”
Crosby and Mahomes are not exactly best of buds, but there is a healthy dose of respect between two of the fiercest rivals in the AFC West. Crosby has sacked Mahomes six times in 12 career games, yet the Chiefs have won eight of the last nine.
Mahomes is 12-2 against the Raiders overall, throwing 33 touchdown passes and only five interceptions.
“So, I got the ultimate respect for Pat. I’ve said it a million times,” Crosby said. “I look at myself as the ultimate competitor. I look at myself as the best in the world. I know he thinks he’s the best in the world. And I’ve said it myself. So, he brings the best out of me. I know I bring the best out of him. So definitely looking forward to those wars.”
Mahomes isn't exactly sure where his competitive nature comes from, though dad is a safe place start. Pat Mahomes Sr. managed to hang around for 11 years in the big leagues, and his son spent a lot of those years hanging out in the clubhouse.
It's what drives Mahomes all offseason, when his personal trainer, Bobby Stroupe, is putting him through yet another brutal workout. It's what pushes him in practice, the boiling ones at training camp and the frigid ones late in the season. And it's what allows him to push through the pain of bumps and bruises on gameday, when other QBs might call it quits.
It's what has allowed Mahomes to continually rally his team, leading them to five Super Bowls and three championships.
“Yeah, that burn to win is at the highest level of probably any player in the NFL,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “He's built different that way, and I think when you have that, it goes on to these players on the team — offense, defense, special teams — and us as coaches. You want to make sure you are doing everything possible.”
So many games in the NFL come down to the wire, Nagy said, and the sheer will to win sometimes makes the difference.
“When you have him on your side, you know he’s going to give you a great chance,” Nagy said. “When we lost that Super Bowl (in February), it was the very next day and he was ready to go, and we just know that it’s a great, high standard that we all have.”
Mahomes readily admits that the 40-22 loss to the Eagles in New Orleans was one of the worst performances of his career, and that the Philadelphia defense had a lot to do with it. He threw two interceptions and was sacked six times.
Still, the numbers that Mahomes — who turns 30 next month — has compiled through his first eight seasons are staggering.
His career passer rating of 102.1 is second only to Aaron Rodgers, while Mahomes' average of 288.9 yards passing per game is the best of anyone to play the quarterback position. But perhaps most importantly, Mahomes has led the Chiefs to seven of their nine consecutive AFC West titles, and then reached the conference title game in each of those seven seasons.
“I think you always have to get better,” Mahomes said. “That's something that people lose track of when you have success. Obviously we didn't win that last game, but we had a lot of success last year. And I think sometimes people want to be stagnant, and they want to go out there and just do it over again. But you see with the rest of the AFC West, the rest of the AFC and the NFL, everybody is getting better. So we have to get better.”
Spoken like someone whose competitive fire is blazing hotter than ever.
“We have to keep the urgency in practice, competing, going at it,” Mahomes said. “You want to be competitive, but you want to be better together. That's something that we've always done, but we want to try to take it to a new level this year.”
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