The 2024 ESPYs presented by Capital One have release
d the nominees for their awards, and Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs highlight several of the categories.
Mahomes is nominated for “Best Athlete, Men’s Sports” as well as “Best NFL Player”. If Mahomes wins the “Best Athlete, Men’s Sports” award, he will join LeBron James, Lance Armstrong, and Tiger Woods as the only athletes to win the category more than once, per ESPN’s press release on June 26.
Other athletes who were nominated for “Best Athlete, Men’s Sports” were Shohei Ohtani (MLB), Scottie Scheffler (PGA), and Connor McDavid (NHL). The other nominated athletes for “Best NFL Player” were Myles Garrett (Cleveland Browns), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens), and Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco 49ers).
The Chiefs were nominated for the “Best Team” award alongside the South Carolina Gamecocks (NCAA women’s basketball), Michigan Wolverines (NCAA football), Las Vegas Aces (WNBA), University of Connecticut Huskies (NCAA Men’s basketball), Oklahoma Sooners (NCAA softball), Boston Celtics (NBA), Florida Panthers (NHL), and Texas Rangers (MLB).
The ESPYs, which will be hosted by Serena Williams, will broadcast live on Thursday, July 11 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs Eyeing Three-Peat
Though being nominated for an ESPY is an incredible honor, Mahomes and the Chiefs likely have their minds focused on a three-peat. But Mahomes didn’t let the monumental task ahead stop him from going through his typical mental preparation during the offseason.
“Now that we’re kind of back and starting back from the beginning, that’s how you have to start, you have to start from the beginning, you have to go back to your fundamentals,” Mahomes said on April 15 of his offseason preparation after winning back-to-back Super Bowls. “I’ll be going over fronts and stuff today, stuff that might get a little tedious and stuff that I need to know. The coaches will get a laugh out of it because they know that it kind of irritates me sometimes.
“That’s how it is, you have to go back to the beginning, go back to your elementary school and learn from the beginning and I think that’s something that has kind of gotten us to where we’re at is that you can’t be satisfied at where we’re at, you have to learn and pick up one little different thing that you didn’t know the year before,” Mahomes continued. “That’s something that I will continue to work on throughout this offseason and prepare myself and then once we get to the season, we’ll try to make that run at it but it’s going to take a day-in, day-out type of mentality.”
Patrick Mahomes Has a Message for Chiefs Rookies
If the Chiefs want to accomplish their quest for a three-peat they’ll need to do it with some help from their rookie class. That’s why Mahomes gave some advice to them during his press conference on May 22.
“I think it’s to try to be great every single day. They have to learn how to work – that’s every class that comes in, every group of rookies – you have to push them to be great,” Mahomes said. “That’s why you see me over there yelling, ‘Finish’, and you see me talk to those guys after every single play. We know that those guys are what is going to keep us going, keep this thing going. We’re looking obviously at this year but in future years as well.
“We want to make sure we push them to be great every single day, having those guys – a lot of talented guys who have displayed a lot of talent so far, but they have to continue to be great because they have to be good fast,” Mahomes continued. “It’s not like we’re waiting for them to develop to be a great player, we want them to be great the first day they step on the football field. I think our coaches and the players around really push guys to be great every single day.”
