NFL

Super Bowl LV: Brady expects Mahomes to keep improving on amazing accomplishments

By Sports Desk February 01, 2021

As Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers attempt to do what only one team managed to do in the regular season and defeat Patrick Mahomes, the six-time Super Bowl champion warned future foes that the Kansas City Chiefs star is only going to get better. 

Brady and the Bucs face Mahomes and the Chiefs in a mouth-watering Super Bowl LV matchup in Tampa on Sunday. 

Mahomes is trying to cap a spectacular start to his career as an NFL starter with a second successive Lombardi Trophy, having led the Chiefs back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV last year. 

That game saw him add a Super Bowl MVP to the regular-season MVP award he won in his first year as a starter with the Chiefs. 

His incredible achievements have many believing Mahomes is on his way to potentially dethroning Brady as the greatest quarterback of all time. 

And Brady expects Mahomes - who was rested in Week 17 when Kansas City were beaten by the Los Angeles Chargers - to build further on an astonishing three seasons in the years to come. 

Asked about Mahomes' progress from their meeting in the AFC Championship game in January 2019, when Brady's New England Patriots knocked off the Chiefs, the 43-year-old replied: "I think he's only elevated from that point on. 

"That year he was the MVP of the league, last year he came back and got off to a great start, dealt with some injuries, I know he separated his kneecap, that's a pretty tough injury, but fought through that, didn't have the same statistical year as he had in 2018, but goes on to win Super Bowl MVP.

"That's an amazing accomplishment to win MVP in 18, win the Super Bowl in 19 and then this year, to have the kind of year he's had, which is probably more similar to the year he had in 2018. I just think he's going to keep improving.

"I don't know him that well, I know quite a few people that do know him and they say great things about Pat. The times that I've been around him I've really enjoyed. 

"He's got a great maturity, great leader, got great charisma. It always speaks a lot when the players he plays with say great things about him. He's got a great relationship with his receivers, I think that always says a lot.

"I think there's a lot of things that make him a great player, obviously his physical skill set. I think he's got the ability to focus when the moments are the biggest and deliver for his team, that's probably the mark of any great athlete is coming through in the clutch and I think he's off to a great start in his career doing that."

Related items

  • Denis Compton to Victoria Pendleton – Louis Rees-Zammit joins multi-sport stars Denis Compton to Victoria Pendleton – Louis Rees-Zammit joins multi-sport stars

    Former Wales and British and Irish Lions wing Louis Rees-Zammit is reportedly set to join reigning Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs.

    The 23-year-old stunned the world of rugby in January by quitting the sport in an attempt to secure a contract with an NFL team in 2024, and his dream could soon come true.

    Here, the PA news agency looks at some other multi-talented sports stars.

    Denis Compton (cricket and football)

    Compton played 75 Test matches for England, making his debut in 1937 aged 19 and scoring his first century the following year against Don Bradman’s touring Australian side.

    He had made his Arsenal debut in 1936 and went on to win the league title in 1948 and FA Cup in 1950 with the Gunners, the same year in which he helped Middlesex win the County Championship.

    Babe Didrikson Zaharias (athletics, golf)

    Zaharias also excelled at basketball and baseball, but initially made her name in track and field, winning two gold medals and one silver in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.

    Zaharias won the javelin comfortably, took the 80 metres hurdles in a world-record time and finished equal first in the high jump before losing the title when her technique was deemed illegal.

    A latecomer to golf, she won more than 50 titles, including the US Women’s Open three times, and co-founded the LPGA.

    Lottie Dod (tennis, golf, archery)

    Lottie Dod remains Wimbledon’s youngest women’s singles champion, winning the first of her five titles at just 15 years and 285 days old in 1887.

    Later turning her attention to golf, she won the 1904 British Ladies Amateur title and four years later won a silver medal in archery at the Olympic Games in London, where her brother Willy claimed gold in the men’s event.

    Jim Thorpe (athletics, American football, baseball, basketball)

    The first Native American to win gold for the United States in the Olympics, Thorpe won both the pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm in 1912.

    He lost his titles after it emerged he had previously been paid for playing semi-professional baseball, but they were eventually reinstated by the International Olympic Committee.

    Thorpe played six seasons in Major League Baseball and for six NFL teams, as well as enjoying a less-well documented spell in professional basketball.

    Victoria Pendleton (cycling and horse racing)

    Two-time Olympic champion track cyclist Victoria Pendleton announced in March 2015 that she had set her sights on riding in the following year’s Cheltenham Festival.

    She made her competitive debut in August 2015 and won her first race, on March 2, 2016, on 5-4 favourite Pacha Du Polder at Wincanton.

    Pendleton then achieved her stated aim of riding in the Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham and finished fifth, describing the result as “probably the greatest achievement of my life”.

  • Louis Rees-Zammit reportedly signs for Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs Louis Rees-Zammit reportedly signs for Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs

    Former Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit has signed for Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs, according to a report in the United States.

    Rees-Zammit is set to join the Chiefs’ practice squad, having impressed during his time on the NFL’s international player pathway.

    The 23-year-old’s signing is expected to be confirmed on Friday, with running back and wide receiver his designated positions.

    The move comes after he visited several NFL franchises, including the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos.

    Rees-Zammit’s next goal is to win a place on the Chiefs’ final roster for the new season, joining their star players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in targeting a third-successive Super Bowl.

    The Gloucester, Wales and Lions wing stunned the world of rugby in January by quitting the sport in an attempt to secure a contract with an NFL team in 2024.

    That dream moved a step closer when he impressed during last week’s pro day that forms part of the international player pathway.

    Rees-Zammit clocked 4.43 seconds in his 40-yard dash, a 9ft 7in broad jump and 29-inch vertical jump.

  • Panthers sign veteran pass-rusher Clowney Panthers sign veteran pass-rusher Clowney

    After tallying the fewest sacks in the NFL in 2023, the Carolina Panthers have upgraded their pass rush.

    The Panthers signed Jadeveon Clowney to a two-year, $20million deal with a max value of $24million on Wednesday.

    The top overall pick of the 2014 NFL draft, Clowney has bounced around from team to team the past few seasons as it looked like his best years were behind him.

    The 31-year-old, however, is coming off a resurgent 2023.

    Playing in all 17 games last season for the Baltimore Ravens, Clowney racked up 9 1/2 sacks - matching his career high from 2017.

    He also registered 19 quarterback hits and 79 QB pressures - tied for seventh most in the NFL.

    He joins a Carolina team that had a league-low 27 sacks last season and had the NFL's worst record at 2-15.

    Clowney, who grew up about 20 minutes from the Panthers' home stadium, spent his first five pro seasons with the Houston Texans before spending the last five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and Ravens.

    From 2019-2022 in his first four seasons since leaving Houston, he totaled just 14 sacks.

    In 126 career games, he has 52 1/2 sacks, 128 QB hits and 15 forced fumbles.

     

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.