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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes called pop superstar Taylor Swift "probably the most down-to-earth" famous person he's met since emerging as the NFL's top quarterback.
Mahomes, 28, who was named to the 2024 Time 100 'Most Influential People' list and featured on one of the covers promoting the list on Tuesday (April 16), addressed his experiences with Swift amid her relationship with teammate Travis Kelce, as well as the singer's friendship with his wife, Brittany Mahomes, since initially attending the Chiefs' game last September.
“I’ve met a lot of famous people now in my life,” Mahomes told Time. “Taylor’s probably the most down-to-earth person that’s been on that stage for that long.”
“She’s never not working,” Mahomes added, acknowledging the singer's friendship with his wife. “Even when she’s taking her downtime, she’s working on something. Shooting a music video or singing a song or writing a song. You can see it by how she talks. Even when she’s talking about football, when she’s learning it, you can see her business mind putting it together. It’s almost like she’s trying to become a coach. ‘Why can’t you try this, this, and this?’ She’s asking the right questions.”
Mahomes credited Swift's popularity for having the Chiefs go "from a nationwide team that was kind of global to a full global worldwide team" as she continued to appear at Kelce's games last season.
“We just embraced it,” Mahomes told Time. “We like having that visibility. At the end of the day, football has always been this bruising sport. We want to make it fun, where kids grow up and play football and show their personality and be who they are. This year really magnified that.”
Mahomes is just two months removed from winning his third Super Bowl and third Super Bowl MVP during the Chiefs' 25-22 win against the San Francisco 49ers. The former Texas Tech standout threw for 333 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 34 of 47 passing in the Chiefs' Super Bowl LVIII win.
Mahomes threw for 1,051 yards, six touchdowns and one interception on 104 of 149 passing in four games this postseason, as well as 5,135 yards, 41 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 456 of 672 passing in 18 career playoff starts.