Jon Gruden gushed about Patrick Mahomes in 2017 interview but what about now

Jon Gruden used to be a big fan of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes but is he still?

Before the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes, and before Jon Gruden took over the Raiders for the second time, the coach interviewed the young gunslinger for his ESPN feature Gruden’s QB Camp.

It is obvious from the get-go, the coach-turned-broadcaster-turned-coach loved Mahomes. At one point, Gruden told the quarterback, “I can have some fun with you, man!” (at the 4:07 mark), as he chuckled with wistful glee.

Gruden also tells him during a highlight of a pass from Mahomes’ Texas Tech days that “I love watching you play. I really do. When I look at this film with a guy in your face…that’s awesome!”

During another highlight, Gruden gushes even further (5:10 mark). “This is like a trick throw. How do you do that? That’s the damndest throw I’ve ever seen…no one can do this. I, I ain’t ever seen a throw like that. That right there, I can tell you I have not seen.”

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has to be frustrating Jon Gruden now.

One has to wonder how Gruden feels about Mahomes now? The quarterback is 5-1 against the Raiders since taking over for as the Chiefs starting quarterback. In six games, he has 1,882 yards passing, with 15 touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s also added 114 rushing yards and two more touchdowns.

Sunday night, the Raiders took the lead with just 1:43 left. Unfortunately for Gruden and the Raiders, Mahomes needed just 75 seconds of that to drive 75 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Gruden didn’t seem to take the loss well, as you would expect. COVID protocols made him short-handed on defense, but he wasn’t willing to blame that. Instead, he tipped his cap to the Chiefs.

As a fan of the game, Gruden still has to be amazed by the same things he saw on film when he interviewed Mahomes in 2017. As an opposing coach, he has to be frustrated with how right he was about the Chiefs quarterback when he gushed about him during that interview.

Luckily, the win gave the Chiefs some breathing room from the Raiders and the rest of the AFC West. Kansas City still has tough road matchups at Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Miami, so they may need all the space they can get.

Still, it is easy to have fun with that interview now, in hindsight. Everything Gruden was excited about when he watched Mahomes in college, the Chiefs quarterback is duplicating in the NFL. That video resurfaced after the game on Reddit, and it was fun to go back and watch the original.

Let’s hope Patrick Mahomes continues to frustrate and baffle Gruden and all the rest of the NFL coaches for years to come!