Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and former Texas Tech Red Raider Patrick Mahomes was one of five athletes selected by Sports Illustrated to share the 2020 Sportsperson of the Year award.

In 2020, Mahomes led several comeback victories on route to the Chiefs first Super Bowl in 50 years. In the offseason, he signed a $503 million contract extension and buying an ownership stake in the Kansas City Royals. Among other things.

Mahomes shares the award with Chiefs teammate Laurent Duvernay-Tardif who is a doctor in his spare time and opted out of the season to work in a hospital. Also, basketball stars LeBron James and Breanna Stewart along with tennis player Naomi Osaka.

Former Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams told Sports Illustrated why Mahomes was worthy of the Sportsperson of the Year award in a guest feature.

He is the best player in the NFL, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, the owner of the biggest contract in sports history. He is also a young Black man who understands the impact he can have on society. When players started putting that video together, he didn’t worry about his product endorsements. He didn’t sit back and say, “No, I’m not gonna do that—that’s gonna tarnish my reputation.” It wasn’t about his reputation. It’s about social justice to him. It’s about what’s right. It’s about the way things should be.

Mahomes is on pace for his second NFL MVP award while leading the Chiefs to an 11-1 start to the season. Sports Illustrated says that in such a strange year they awarded men and women who "in 2020 were champions in every sense of the word: champions on the field, champions for others off it."

Patrick Mahomes: From East Texas To NFL Stardom

 

More From 1025 KISS FM