It was billed as a potential changing of the guard, but Tom Brady and the New England Patriots hung on to edge the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime of the AFC championship game.
Patrick Mahomes’ first full season as a starter in the NFL was enough to convince the Chiefs of signing him to a $200 million extension as soon as he becomes eligible, but as for the Super Bowl, that’ll have to wait: It’ll be the Patriots against the Los Angeles Rams this year.
While Brady is moving on to his ninth Super Bowl appearance — by the way, that would be a record among non-Patriots franchises, forget players — he still took a moment after the AFC championship to recognize Mahomes, who is certainly well on his way to superstardom despite the temporary setback.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, Brady quietly asked to speak one on one with Mahomes, taking the young quarterback aside into another room. Only those two are privy to what was said in there — the rest of the world can only wonder — but it was sure to be some form of encouragement and support for one of the game’s greats-in-waiting.
Some may tire of seeing Brady in the Super Bowl, over and over and over, but you can’t hate on this gesture of respect from the 41 year old. If you really want to see a young gun knock him off though, Jared Goff will have the next chance in the Super Bowl.
