“I’ll never forget Eric Berry coming up to me like, ‘Damn, did you see the throw he made in practice today?’” Alex Smith chuckles while reminiscing about Patrick Mahomes‘ rookie season. In a candid conversation on ‘The Ryen Russillo Podcast‘ (October 25, 2024), Smith pulls back the curtain on his final year with the Kansas City Chiefs – a season that would reshape NFL history.
Every morning in 2017, Smith arrived at the Chiefs’ facility ready for his usual routine. But something kept catching his eye. His rookie understudy was already there, beating even the 13-year veteran to the building. “Patrick was just like glue to that quarterback room,” Smith reveals. The young quarterback tagged along everywhere – from film sessions to team dinners, even ordering Coors Light at bars, much to Smith’s amusement.
The stats tell one side of the story. Smith was coming off arguably his best NFL season, Yet behind those numbers lay an untold tale of mentorship. Andy Reid put it bluntly back in August: “Patrick owes him like a new home. He showed Patrick how to be a professional.”