On launching the “15 and the Mahomies Foundation’’ that will assist children in underserved areas as well as those dealing with chronic illness or recovering from serious accidents: “I’ve always wanted to start a foundation and give back to the communities who have given so much to me.
I want to help as many people as I can, so for me, to get the MVP and this platform, where I can reach so many people, and launching ‘15 and the Mahomies,’ I feel I can impact a lot of people’s lives. I have a few personal stories but those kids work 1,000 times harder than I do on a daily basis and I want to make sure they have all the resources for an amazing life.’’ On how Kliff Kingsbury, his coach at Texas Tech and new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, will fare:
“I know that he’ll put in the work to be a success. Everybody who comes into the NFL there’s going to be an adjustment period, but the guys who put in the work like he does can minimize that. I’m excited for him.’’ His impression of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, a player the Bills drafted in 2018 rather than take him with the No. 10 overall pick in 2017 (Buffalo traded the pick to the Chiefs who used it on Mahomes): “He’s someone with tremendous talent.
I didn’t have the opportunity to play like that my first year and get thrown into the fire, and for him to have success with his arm and his legs, you can tell he’s a competitor, someone who wants to win football games. He’s someone who will do whatever he can to make the Bills a winning organization. There’s going to be a lot of dogfights in the future between me and him and the Bills and Chiefs for sure.’’
On Mitch Morse, his center with the Chiefs whom the Bills signed as a free agent: “Mitch is an awesome guy, someone I was really sad that we lost. Josh and the Bills will be honored to have him. He’s such a tremendous leader and worker, he puts the effort in to be great. I’m sad we lost him but I know he’s with a great organization.’’
On New England’s Tom Brady seeking him out after the AFC title game, a 37-31 loss to the Patriots in overtime: “The AFC title game in general was amazing, we ended up losing so it’s one I’ll probably always remember. But it adds fuel to the fire. Playing in games like that his where you want to be at. For Tom to come up to me in all of that excitement and at that moment to talk to me and tell me about his experiences with winning and the few times he’s lost, it was a really cool thing.’’
On what quarterback he pretended to be as a kid when playing in his backyard: “I was Brett Favre, but I was a baseball player. I didn’t start being a starting quarterback on the varsity until about 3-4 games into my junior year. It was baseball and basketball for me. I picked up football late and just kind of ran with it.’’
