I love Patrick Mahomes.
I’ve never met him, but as a lifelong Kansas City Chiefs fan I love that he’s our quarterback, not only because he won us our first Super Bowl in fifty years, but because he’s a passionate leader, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.
Patrick Mahomes is the face of the NFL. He’s the most influential player in the league and he knows it, but he’s also humble enough to not abuse that power, largely because he was raised in the shadows of his father’s professional baseball career. He grew up seeing professional sports as businesses first, entertainment second, and he also knows that players are role models, for better or worse.
So it didn’t really come as surprise to me when Patrick Mahomes joined a number of the NFL’s brightest stars in a YouTube video stating that black lives matter. Patrick Mahomes has a black father and a white mother, so it stands to reason racial issues are dear to his heart. He’s the best player in the league, the number one quarterback, and perhaps the best black quarterback to ever play the game.
For this reason it would be a great time for Patrick Mahomes to pick up the phone and let Donald Trump know the Chiefs are ready for that visit to the White House. Trump invited the Chiefs for a visit back on February 6th, a week after their Super Bowl win. Coach Andy Reid and pro-bowl tight end Travis Kelce both expressed enthusiasm for the visit at the time. And in early March, Mahomes reiterated it was still on the table.
“…that’s something that I will talk about with my guys and really make the right decision that represents us, represents Kansas City and the Chiefs in the right way.”
–Patrick Mahomes
Of course, that was right at the outset of the Coronavirus lockdowns. Everything went into a holding pattern, but now the situation has changed. In response to the riots and protests, Mahomes and Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu have started a voter registration initiative with the goal of encouraging citizens to get involved in local government and help facilitate the changes they’re passionate about. Trump can help with that.
Grants to non-profits, deregulation for the rebuilding of businesses, tax incentives for new businesses — these are things that the Federal government can do for Kansas City and beyond. And what better opportunity to discuss them than over a burger and some ribs with the President — especially now, when civil conversations over important matters are so easily overshadowed by empty acts of pandering that merely assuage real or imagined guilt?
What better way to make the case for racial and social unity than by having a good-faith discussion with important people who can actually make a difference?
A few spots down the list of the top NFL quarterbacks is Deshaun Watson. He was also in that video the players sent to the NFL. Mahomes and Watson share several characteristics beyond their skin color, the most prominent being their professed Christian faith, which I suspect might be a significant reason they chose to be involved. It’s also why they have another incredible opportunity ahead of them in a few months.
Mahomes and Watson will square off in the 2020 NFL kickoff game on September 10th, and everyone will be watching to see how these young men lead their teams, not necessarily in the game, but before it, during the national anthem.
A few years ago the league fought its own little civil war between players, fans, and owners. One side felt that kneeling during the anthem was a legitimate form of protest, the other side thought that act was disrespectful and offensive.
Have no doubt, there are people out there begging Mahomes and Watson to light that fire again, and by kneeling during the anthem that is exactly what would happen. Some people want to see the world burn, and are perfectly willing to insult any number of people in order to highlight the injustice done to them or others. But justice without mercy is vicious, and insulting people to highlight a cause is simply cruel. As the saying goes, There is no point in giving someone a rose to smell after you’ve just cut off their nose.
Whatever motivations exist for those who kneel, the fact remains that it’s a profound symbol of disrespect for millions of Americans who honor the flag and anthem as more than symbols. They matter, and as a general rule it’s never okay to trash something another person cherishes. That is the height of narcissism and all it does is cause more pain. Ultimately the perpetrator wears that pain, because there is no greater torment than a heart aligned with hate.
But Mahomes and Watson have another option: They can choose to lead their teams in the manner consistent with the teachings of their Savior. That is, by loving their neighbors, all of them, and respecting them even if they think differently.
Imagine a scenario where the Chiefs and Texans players, coaches, and owners all get together to discuss what the flag and the anthem means to them personally. No doubt there will be opinions in both directions, but there could be a universal sense of respect in both directions as well. Hopefully they can agree to a shared commitment that rejects outward displays of disrespect. They can choose to listen to their brothers whatever their skin color because just like prejudice understanding goes both ways.
Many people in the sports media have credited Mahomes’ involvement in that video as the key element that got the NFL to effectively endorse the Black Lives Matter movement. Mahomes believes he has stepped up the plate to promote justice. Now Mahomes can decide to take the next step in servant leadership, and choose to align his actions with additional virtues, like temperance, prudence, and fortitude against the voices that want to breed additional division.
At the conclusion of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln gave perhaps his greatest speech.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds…to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1864
If you know your history, you’ll remember that there were those who opposed Lincoln’s vision of reconciliation. They killed him for it, and another one hundred and fifty years of racial division was the result.
Some people are perfectly fine with a nation at war with itself. They encourage it, cheer it on, and profit from it. Some people ascribe to the philosophy that the way to affect change is to inflict pain or humiliation, to make other people feel the sting of what it’s like to be wronged. But this was never the message of Christ, and I hope Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson and the rest of us keep that in mind.
Other people understand that acts of division only lead to a perpetual cycle of loss. Real change comes from a heart surrendered to God, a heart willing to love others for their differences, ready to stand in front of a million people and say that the things other people care about also matter.
Mahomes and Watson are young (they’re both 25), and the voices trying to sway them are considerable, the pressure extreme, so their response could go either way. Let us pray their talent extends beyond the the football field. Let us pray they meet the opportunity history affords them in a manner similar to Lincoln — by displaying wisdom beyond their age, in more ways than one.