Patrick Mahomes and My Daughter Sarah
How to be mesmerizing
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Proud Dad Bods
Yesterday, which was my daughter Sarah’s 50th birthday, I read a story in The New York Times about Patrick Mahomes, the electrifying quarterback of Kansas City Chiefs.
Mahomes and the Chiefs will seek their third Super Bowl title in a row this Sunday. Which made the lede of Rustin Dodd’s story downright cheeky.
It began with a viral photo. There was Patrick Mahomes, standing victorious in a locker room, his arm raised in triumph, his torso shirtless, his gut exposed and…kind of flabby?
Dodd dutifully reported that it might have been the lighting or a bad angle. But the evidence, he wrote, indicated that Mahomes “was rocking a dad bod.”
As the proud owner of a granddad bod, I read every word of the story while eating a croissant at a table next to the French bakery truck at the Sanibel Farmers Market.
It turns out that our ideas about athleticism may be out of date.
A performance trainer in Tyler, Texas, began working with Mahomes in elementary school. Bobby Stroupe said the kid was not exceptionally fast, but he was “adept at movements that felt eclectic: crawling, twisting, chopping, swinging.”
Two decades later, Dodd wrote, Mahomes remains a mesmerizing athlete. He still works with Stroupe, who tailors the quarterback’s workouts around varied movements more than, say, weight lifting.
This enlightened approach allows Mahomes “to be himself, to lean into the gifts that make him special.”
That brings me back to Sarah—my tall, wise, mesmerizing daughter.
Her eclectic moves include handwriting so precise you could name a font after it, conversational skills that rival those of Oprah, passion for her work as a middle school literacy coach and reading specialist, and political savvy we need way more of these days.
Sarah and her sister Roo are devotees of Pilates, which enhances core stability through mindful exercise.
They inspired me to take my first class today, with Darlene, at a Pilates studio that opened a month ago here on Sanibel. I loved it.
I also loved the conclusion of Rustin Dodd’s story:
On a Sunday in October, Mahomes dropped back on fourth-and-goal in a close game against the San Francisco 49ers. As the pocket collapsed and San Francisco’s Nick Bosa came around the edge, Mahomes took off for the goal line. When he arrived, he lowered his shoulder and bulldozed into rookie safety Malik Mustapha. The highlight rippled across the internet. Mustapha was on his back. Mahomes was celebrating.
“That Dad Bod, man,” Mahomes said later.
Yes, it was the Dad Bod. It was a lot more, too.
Note: You can click here for a 30-day guest pass to The Athletic, which will enable you to read Dod’s terrific story.