GLENDALE, Ariz. — Superman will be wearing a white jersey with a red “15” on Super Bowl Sunday. That is the moment when Patrick Mahomes will be asked to remind the villains packing Kryptonite that you don’t tug on Superman’s cape. That is the moment when his teammates will cling to Superman’s cape and plead: “Fly, Patrick, Fly.”
Superman has had two beneficial weeks to rest his high ankle sprain, and besides, Michael Jordan scoffed at a bout with food poisoning and scored 38 points during Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Jazz, and Willis Reed limped out of the tunnel to inspire the Knicks during Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Lakers, because that’s what Supermen do.
These Eagles are more Apollo Creed than Rocky, more Clubber Lang than Apollo Creed, and only Superman has it in his power to keep the City of Brotherly Love from singing “Fly, Eagles, Fly” while climbing greased light poles deep into the night.
Mahomes’ second MVP award brings with it a Super Bowl mandate: Exceed the limits of his own imagination, and ours, because we have so often been witnesses to his otherworldly talent for which nothing is impossible and impossible is nothing.
“A player like Pat, it’s like you have a chance every single play to score the ball,” Chiefs rookie receiver Skyy Moore said. “So, it’s like that’s a big advantage over a lot of teams.”
Yes, indeed, Mahomes is a big advantage. He is the Belle of the Bowl, and you dare not and cannot take your eyes off him, because at any moment, a great moment is likely. If you delay trips to the fridge when Aaron Judge is at the plate, you stay on your couch and pass the guacamole whenever Patrick Mahomes has the ball in his hands.
But Superman cannot afford to be human against a pass rush that is hellbent on a feeding frenzy, and against the iron will of a dual threat such as Jalen Hurts in the first Super Bowl matchup of black quarterbacks.
Mahomes was human behind an inferior offensive line when he lost Super Bowl LV to Tom Brady, blowing the chance to begin a Changing of the GOAT, because he found himself trailing by six Lombardi Trophies instead of four at the end of the night.
Mahomes is still just 27, but there is no more time for him to waste if he hopes to ascend from GOOT (Greatest of Our Time) to GOAT.
Because here’s the thing: You can be the talk of your sport, you can be entering your prime, and still your greatness does not guarantee playing in another Super Bowl, much less winning another one.
Joe Namath was 25 when he won Super Bowl III. And never played in a second Super Bowl.
Brett Favre was 27 when he won Super Bowl XXXI. And lost the second and last time he was 60 minutes from the Lombardi Trophy, the next season.
Aaron Rodgers was 26 when he won Super Bowl XLV. And has not made it back to a second one.
Dan Marino was 23 when he lost to Joe Montana in Super Bowl XIX. And never played in another.
Russell Wilson was 25 when he won Super Bowl XLVIII. And he lost when he made it back the next season, because Marshawn Lynch somehow didn’t get the ball at the New England 1-yard line and Wilson was intercepted in the end zone by Malcolm Butler.
And remember: Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Trevor Lawrence all play in the AFC.
Mahomes started slowly in both of his Super Bowls (two touchdowns, four interceptions, one rushing TD, 57.1 completion percentage combined). He needed fourth-quarter heroics to beat the 49ers, and will be playing with fire if he falls behind against the Eagles. The blueprint will be to force Hurts to play from behind and thereby diminish his vaunted rushing attack.
Mahomes’ improvisational genius and rare instincts arm him with the kind of ring generalship we once saw with Muhammad Ali and Floyd “Money” Mayweather.
“The added pressure is doing your job because that man back there is the best in the world at what he does,” left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said.
There it is: Mahomes, by his mere presence, makes everyone around him better. He elevated and inspired everyone around him when he was the youngest quarterback to win Super Bowl MVP, three years ago in Super Bowl LIV.
“You look at this list of quarterbacks that have won two Super Bowls, it’s not a very long list. … It’s not like I’m trying to catch Tom, catching Tom’s a long ways away,” Mahomes said this week. “You can talk to me when I’m about like 38 years old and I have like five or six of ’em, then I’ll start talking about trying to catch Tom.”
When Brady will be 58, and still sitting on seven Super Bowl championships.
Fly, Superman, Fly.
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