Patrick Mahomes’ sporting career has been quite interesting. Before he became an iconic football player, there was a brief moment when the 3x Super Bowl winner was a baseball player. Unsurprisingly Mahomes was just as good in baseball as he is in football. With his father already being a former major league player, Mahomes’ connection with America’s favorite pastime went deep. So deep that Mahomes used to play soft toss with Alex Rodriguez. 

Imagine a six-year-old Patrick Mahomes standing with a bat in his hands and Rodriguez throwing balls at him. That led to Mahomes bonding with then $252 million superstar. The bond extended past that age and ‘A-Rod’ almost prevented the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty with his tip. So what was it that Rodriguez said to Mahomes? The star revealed in his appearance on Logan Paul’s podcast.

“So it was just more I think of, he saw what I did in baseball and I was a good baseball player,” Mahomes said about Alex Rodriguez. “He’s (‘A-Rod’) is like, ‘Dude, if you do this’ and he just got paid like $300 million that time and that’s like a billion now. He’s like “man you can just do this, you can (play). Baseball is better in your body.” 

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So if the cards fell just a little differently, Mahomes could’ve been a major league star. However, his deep love for football prevented Mahomes from pursuing baseball. The star said that his philosophy of telling people to “follow their dream” applied to him too. Mahomes wanted to be a football player and he did so despite baseball just being there for him.

So why were the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Mahomes’ father so high on him? The answer is simple – his baseball potential was quite high. But so was his love for football.

Despite Alex Rodriguez’s advice – how Patrick Mahomes became a football star

“He grew up in the clubhouse, he was always around the game, and he was always the best player on his baseball team,” Patrick Mahomes Sr. said about his son (via Los Angeles Times). “He was an unbelievable shortstop, he always led his team in hitting, and he threw 97 mph on the mound, so I always thought he was gonna be a baseball player.” 

As a result, Mahomes’ father encouraged him to give up football to pursue baseball. For a while, Mahomes agreed, mostly because he was playing safety instead of quarterback in his sophomore year. However, later Mahomes’ mother Randi Martin talked to him and asked him to ponder over his decision. Ultimately, the young Patrick Mahomes chose football over baseball. Though initially it disappointed his father, eventually the huge success of Mahomes proved that decision to be the correct one. 

Still, one imagines just how different the world would have looked if Rodriguez found success and Mahomes never became a football player. Would he have the same success in baseball as he does in football? That’s an interesting question.