If anyone knows what great quarterbacks look like, it’s legendary NFL kicker Adam Vinatieri. After all, he played with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
Now, Vinatieri thinks Patrick Mahomes might be ready to enter the conversation about who the greatest quarterback of all time is. However, he would really help his case by winning another Super Bowl.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, Vinatieri was asked whether Mahomes (three Super Bowl wins) is close to surpassing Brady (7 Super Bowls) on the GOAT list.
“There’s definitely an argument for that,” Vinatieri told TMZ Sports. “I cringe to say that because I’ve been around some of the best players, best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL and I love Tom and Peyton. I’ve never played with Patrick, but I can only assume if you’re his teammate, you feel exactly the same way about him as I feel about those guys.
“I’ve always said, Tom’s got seven Super Bowls until someone does something that he hasn’t, he’s still the man. But we’re getting to something even Tom, even the great Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and that team has not done. If they can pull it off, I dare say you got an argument. You definitely have an argument. And people will say, ‘Oh, you know, Joe Montana, this or that,’ and I don’t think we could ever agree on who is the best ever, but Patrick is right there, and that whole team.”
Vinatieri continued, “When you have a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes that can pull magic out of a hat over and over and over again, it blows me away. In the beginning of the season, they’re winning games but barely. And I’m like, ‘Do they have what it takes again this year?’ Sure enough, it just keeps going, and they beat really good teams all the time the way that they do it.
“Can’t say enough good stuff, and if they can ‘three-peat,’ the first team to ever do it, I will take my hat off and say, ‘My gosh!’ You wanna talk about dynasties, I’ve been a part of teams they called dynasties, and if they can pull this one off, you’ve got 100% of my respect for sure.”
The three-peat aside, if the Chiefs win the Super Bowl on February 9, Mahomes will have won four rings in five Super Bowl appearances in only eight years as a pro. That will also be something no one else has done, in addition to the three-peat.
Does Mahomes have to win the Super Bowl to enter the GOAT conversation?
Normally, three Super Bowl wins at least gets an honorable mention. Some believe John Elway is the GOAT; he only has two rings. Peyton Manning is certainly in the conversation; he only has two rings. Dam Marino, the greatest pure passer in NFL history, should be in this conversation, and he has zero rings.
As Vinatieri said, there will likely never be an agreement on the GOAT.
Two things that will count against Mahomes are the league’s extremely pro-offense rule structure and the strictly enforced rules against roughing the quarterback that existed in his era. One must shudder to think of the damage Elway, Marino, Montana, and Aikman could have done under the current rule structure. Even Brady and Manning spent at least half their careers playing under rules where defenders had far more freedom than they have during Mahomes’ tenure.
Another point against Mahomes is the extremely controversial officiating the Chiefs themselves have directly benefitted from in the postseason. In 12 postseason games, the Chiefs’ opponents have been flagged more in eleven games. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; a full accounting of the referee’s favoritism towards Kansas City can be read here.
None of that means Mahomes shouldn’t be in the GOAT conversation, but it makes a difference.
