Former Chiefs Great Revealed Shocking Details From Patrick Mahomes' Rookie Season

The Kansas City Chiefs have won two straight Super Bowl titles and three in the past five years. They have Patrick Mahomes at the helm and he is clearly the best quarterback in the league.

Even though Mahomes torches everyone in the league now, he had to wait before stepping onto the field. He was selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft but didn't play as a rookie. The Chiefs had Alex Smith as the starter but former Kansas City great Tamba Hali revealed some interesting info regarding the 2017 season.

Chiefs News: Tamba Hali Admits That Some Players Wanted Patrick Mahomes to Play as a Rookie in 2017

Linebacker Tamba Hali played for the Chiefs from 2006-2017 and was one of their most productive players, notching the second-most sacks in team history (89.5). In 2024, he'll be inducted into the Chiefs Hall-of-Fame.

Hali already saw greatness in Mahomes and talked about in 2018.

"You’re going to get a complete player. I mean, he’s a smart player. He can throw the ball. Athletically, he’s gifted. You don’t have to coach it. . . . I don’t want to hype him, but I compare him to Brett Favre. He runs around the field and he throws the ball and he’s just having fun."

- Tamba Hali in 2018

In his latest press conference when speaking to the media as a Chiefs Hall-of-Fame inductee, Hali continued to sing the praises of Mahomes, going back to the quarterback's rookie season.

Hali stated, "At times, we wanted him to play. We wanted him to be on the field."

When you go back and rethink the 2017 season, you could see why players felt this way. Players have an idea on who can produce at this level because they see who stands out in practice, regardless if they start or not.

That was the case with Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce said he was doing "unbelievable" things at practice on PFT Live in October 2017.

In 2017, the Chiefs started out 5-0, before going 1-3 over the next four weeks heading into the bye.

After the bye week, things didn't improve as Kansas City lost three straight games, failing to score more than 10 points in two of those matchups. They managed to pull things together, winning four straight games to notch a playoff berth.

Unfortunately, the Chiefs blew a 21-3 lead in the Wild Card Round to the Tennessee Titans, falling 22-21.

The following year, Mahomes was handed the starting job and the rest is history.

Would things have been different for the Chiefs in 2017 if Mahomes was given the opportunity to play as a rookie? No one will ever know but Hali and other players already saw the greatness in the now 28-year-old.

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