For one quarterback, 2017 marked the beginning; for the other, the beginning of an end. But tension? No. Not between Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith and the rookie his team had traded up for. Patrick Mahomes could play. Smith could help him play better, faster—if, that is, he wanted to mentor rather than stave off.
Their coach, Andy Reid, didn’t tell Smith to do anything, necessarily. But he still expected that Smith, one of the respected NFL players of the past 20 seasons, would anyway.
He did, welcoming Mahomes in all manner of ways except for asking whether the first-round draft pick wanted to move in. Smith would ping the group text chain on an off day, planning out a collective workout, lunch and film review session. On Thursdays, he’d organize the most coveted meal in Kansas City: “QB Dinner.” It was invite-only, position specifics required for entry. Some weeks they’d wear sweats, bring their kids and sample different BBQ spots—speaking from experience, everyone knows the best one is Jack Stack—while other times they’d dress up and take their wives or girlfriends out somewhere with white linen tablecloths.
“It was always just QB Dinner,” Smith says. “Said it all. It was a way to bond. And that’s when I discovered …”
The rookie quarterback who slung passes sidearm, who ran all over and then launched passes halfway down the field, well, he was remarkably consistent in his eating/drinking/condiment habits. “An affinity for Coors Light, ketchup and Cool Ranch Doritos,” Smith says. He laughs, then adds, “long before any endorsement opportunities.”
After dinner, the quarterbacks would head back to team headquarters for a late film review session. Those nights always ended the same way. They’d head down to the locker room for a game of H-O-R-S-E. But they called it C-H-I-E-F-S instead. Smith notes that he didn’t have as much on-court experience as Mahomes and Tyler Bray, both of whom played hoops in high school. Smith refashioned his goals, trying all sorts of elaborate trick shots, aiming “not to finish last.”
When Smith looks back at that time he sees osmosis, on his end and on Mahomes’s end. The rookie saw how Smith prepared, saw Smith around his wife and children and saw Smith lead. Now 27, it’s Mahomes who does those things, and his coaches believe he does them well in part because of Smith’s influence. “The real beauty of that entire situation was just the osmosis,” Smith says. “Like, . . .”
In doing what came naturally, though, Smith also reinforced how the football franchise in Kansas City operated. He saw the approach as developmental. He believes that started—starts—with Reid, his methods subtle and impactful at the same time. “I didn’t have a great grasp on it then,” Smith says. “But that’s just the beauty of what Andy put together.”
That was only six seasons ago. But their time together, in the friendliest of incubators, can sometimes feel like another lifetime. Mahomes was just an unproven rookie, über-talented, but far from the sure bet he quickly became. He’ll win his second league MVP award next week. Back then, Reid was still known for the Super Bowls he hadn’t won. On Sunday, he will coach in his third championship game in the last four seasons. Together, they’ve hosted five straight AFC championship games, an NFL first.
Smith sees his old coach and mentee as right on the fringe of becoming a bona fide dynasty. Win again, he says, “and they become one of those teams that just really leaves a mark. That’s what’s sitting in front of them.”
Much like the atmosphere he fostered, Reid knew football, and he knew scheme. But Smith says his greatest strength is a teacher, a head coach who oversees every person on the practice field, who Smith describes as someone with “such a great fundamental understanding, a simple way to communicate his teaching points.”
Smith always appreciated Reid’s honesty, both when the coach traded for him when Reid traded him away. He understood. Mahomes was elite, a future star in the capable, meaty hands of a Hall of Fame coach. “[Reid] is up there,” Smith says. “He’s up there with Bill Walsh, the Landrys, guys like that. If he wins this next one, he puts himself on a whole different level. If he wins this, I think it’s him and [Bill] Belichick.”
