Patrick Mahomes attended Texas Tech University, a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. He majored in marketing at the university and played for the Texas Tech Red Raiders before he was drafted to join the NFL in 2017. He was drafted in the first round and as the 10th overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Although Mahomes forwent his senior season in college football to enter the NFL Draft, he still ranks among the finest footballers the Red Raiders of Texas Tech has ever produced. He accumulated several prestigious records as a college football player and has kept up with that pace in the NFL. Since he made his professional debut, he has won the Super Bowl, was named the Super Bowl MVP and is a four-time Pro Bowler.
Which College Did Patrick Mahomes Go To?
Patrick Mahomes’ alma mater is Texas Tech University. He was a marketing major at the university and played college football with the Red Raiders from 2014 to 2016. While in high school (Whitehouse High School, Texas), the NFL quarterback distinguished himself as a talented and skilled athlete. As such, he had a few colleges calling to have him play college football with their respective teams.
It is said that the Kansas City Chiefs star had offers from Rice University and the University of Houston. While the former is an elite private university, the latter is a public university. These universities are both based in Houston, Texas. FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) colleges were equally willing to have Mahomes join their team. However, Mahomes opted to attend Texas Tech where he played for the Red Raiders.
According to reports, choosing Texas Tech was an easy call for the Mahomes. It was the only university that had an extended scholarship offer for him. Oklahoma State was also widely reported as another school Patrick wanted to attend. But then, he never got an offer from the college. Reports have it that even though his performance improved greatly as a senior player in high school, no college outside Texas offered him a scholarship.
He Played College Football with the Red Raiders From 2014 to 2016
After high school where Patrick Mahomes thrived in both American football and basketball, he decided to further his education at Texas Tech where he also played college football. He began his freshman season as a backup to Davis Webb who now plays for the New York Giants. As a freshman, he saw action in seven games, four of which he started. He pulled off a career record of 16 touchdown passes and four interceptions with a total of 1,547 passing yards. By the end of the season, he had already set himself apart as a player who has a future in the NFL.
In his sophomore season, he started all 13 games and went on to set records that are quite many to count. He totalled 4,653 passing yards and 456 rushing yards. He was named an All-Big 12 honorable mentioned and won the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week thrice. His performance improved greatly in his junior season which he finished as the winner of the Sammy Baugh Award. Apart from this and other coveted honors he received, he was a finalist for several awards like the Manning, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm.
Choosing to forgo his senior season of college football to enter the NFL Draft, Patrick Mahomes parted ways with the Red Raiders as one of its all-time best players. With 22 rushing touchdowns, he was ranked second all-time among the Red Raider quarterbacks. He was also ranked third in passing yards, touchdown passes, attempts, and completions. In that order, his numbers are 11,252, 93, 1,349, and 857.
Patrick Mahomes Draft Class
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback belongs to the 2017 draft class of the NFL. Given his phenomenal performance during his junior year of college football, when he decided to forgo his senior year, most analysts and scouts projected that he would be picked in the first or second round. The NFL Scouting Combine came and Mahomes’ performance at the throwing drills saw him become one of the top prospects.
Remarkably, he pulled 18 private workouts and official team visits. This was the most recorded by any of the top prospects that year. Several NFL teams showed interest in having him play for them. The teams that approached him included the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Below is a list of top prospects in Mahomes’ Draft Class selected before him:
| Player | NFL Team | Pick No. |
| Myles Garrett | Cleveland Browns | 1 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | Chicago Bears | 2 |
| Solomon Thomas | San Fransico 49ers | 3 |
| Leonard Fournette | Jacksonville Jaguars | 4 |
| Corey Davis | Tennessee Titans | 5 |
| Jamal Adams | New York Jets | 6 |
| Mike Williams | Los Angeles Chargers | 7 |
| Christian McCaffrey | Carolina Panthers | 8 |
| John Ross | Cincinnati Bengals | 9 |
| Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | 10 |
Patrick Mahomes Draft Pick
At the 2017 NFL Draft which was the 82nd annual meeting for NFL teams to select new American football players, Patrick Mahomes got selected by the Kansas City Chiefs, the team he still plays for. As widely predicted, he was selected in the first round and as the 10th overall pick. This saw him become the first quarterback selected by the team since Todd Blackledge. Back in 1983, the Chiefs selected Blackledge as the seventh overall in the year’s NFL Draft.
It was reported that the Kansas City Chiefs had had their eyes on Patrick Mahomes all along and paid a huge prize to have him join their team. From what we gathered, the team traded up for the quarterback. In other words, they traded a third-round pick (27th overall) and their 2018 first-round pick to the Buffalo Bills. This allowed them to move up to the No. 10 spot to select Mahomes.
After that, the team handed him a juicy contract. Mahomes signed a four-year contract with the Chiefs worth $16.42 million, fully guaranteed. The deal also came with a $10.08 million signing bonus. Over the years the quarterback has proved he’s worth every bit of that money. He quickly became a vital player to the team, helping them to emerge as champions of Super Bowl LIV.
With his remarkable contributions, it was a no-brainer the Chiefs embraced a fifth-year option included on Patrick Mahomes’ rookie contract. This time they handed him a ten-year contract extension worth $477 million. The deal included another $26 million in potential bonuses, bringing the overall worth of the contract to $503 million. It made Mahomes the first athlete to bag a contract worth half a billion USD.