Patrick Mahomes has imitators now. No, not the Kermit impersonations. But an actual human being playing like him and even to some extent, following his style. Don’t ignore it, you’ve seen the Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola mimic Mahomes’ hairstyle, and his goatee, and he’s even got it down the Oakley’s. But that’s alright with Mahomes.

Imitation is the best form of flattery they say, so the 3x Super Bowl winner has no qualms with the Nebraska QB following in his footsteps. In fact, when Mahomes was a kid, he used to look up to Alex Rodriguez, the former New York Yankees shortstop and championship winner. That’s what Mahomes revealed to the media when they asked him about Raiola.

“I mean it’s cool, honesty,” Mahomes admitted in a recent presser. “I was that guy. I grew up watching players. I remember being, when I would grow up, I loved Alex Rodriguez play shortstop and try to make plays just like him and do stuff like that and it helped me become the athlete that I am.” The QB jokingly admitted that he is getting old, so people follow him.

Growing up with an MLB dad sure proved to be an advantage for Mahomes, who used to wear the #13 on every team he played as a child. If that wasn’t enough, the Chiefs superstar dressed like Alex Rodriguez-dressed in a batting glove, sunglasses, and a bat. Even Randi Mahomes recalls the crazy fandom that her son had for Alex Rodriguez. “He thought he was Alex,” Randi said.

While there’s no empirical data that justifies this match, Mahomes’ throws are enough for anyone to go “Woah!” His creative approach to making something out of nothing might have been inspired by different sports like baseball which he’s been playing since childhood.

Patrick Mahomes describes his takeaways from Alex Rodriguez

In January 2019, the New York Times did an interview with Pat Mahomes and former Minnesota Twins pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, who didn’t shy away from praising little Mahomes. After all, they have been watching him since he was a boy. They think that Mahomes’ ascension to the NFL has been “smoother.”

Applying the techniques of one sport to another is something that has got him so far in his career. In the interview with the NY Times, Mahomes opened up about the fundamental takeaways of baseball that he applied to football. Though he has a multifaceted experience, he’s grateful that he’s excelling at a single sport.

“There is stuff with mechanics, of course,” Patrick Mahomes said. “You are a little shorter with the motion of the throw with the football. All of it is about having touch and being able to have the fastball but at the same time have the changeup and be able to throw with touch and be accurate. It is something that I had to work on when I was playing both sports but luckily, I play one, so I can just focus in on that.”

But there’s one special quality about Mahomes that LaTroy Hawkins knows about. Apparently, Mahomes can “contort” his body to achieve the desired results. And that’s also one of the reasons why Mahomes has developed a solid right arm over the years. Check out what LaTory Hawkins, who is also Mahomes’ godfather had to say about the QB.

“(Shortstop) has everything to do with it,” Hawkins said. “He’s one of those guys that’s very loose. He’s like double-jointed so he can contort his body and do different things. And coming across the bag and turning two definitely plays a lot into what he’s able to do when he’s rolling out to the left or rolling out to the right.”

Perhaps we’ll see him in even more action this year he now has talented receivers capable of catching deep balls. What do you think about Mahomes’ baseball inspiration? Let us know below.