Brock Purdy is trying to go from Mr. Irrelevant to a franchise NFL quarterback, and he seemingly already received a stamp of approval from a guy who already is there.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes shared nothing but praise for the young 49ers quarterback as the two prepare to face off in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
"The biggest thing I can say is it's going to be a great game," Mahomes told reporters at Opening Night on Monday. "That's what you want in the Super Bowl, great teams going up against each other. I've seen Brock play for a long time. I watched him beat up on Texas Tech while he was in college, now him playing great in the NFL. He's a winner. That's what he is.
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"It takes something to be a winner every single day and he's done a great job of that. I'm hoping it's not like [my] first Super Bowl, because I won my first Super Bowl so I definitely want to win but I know he'll play great and it'll be a great game."
Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who's coached Mahomes for the past seven seasons, certainly knows a great quarterback when he sees one.
While Purdy's pro career is just beginning, Reid acknowledged that the 24-year-old already is playing high-level football.
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"He's accurate. He's smart," Reid said Monday. "Everybody says he's short and he can't run, but he basically won the game last week [against the Detroit Lions] by running the ball along with throwing it. But his legs helped him in that game. Then he did it under pressure. So all those major categories that you check off for quarterbacks, he's got all of that. And that's what he's presenting and showing everybody.
"He's a tough one to stop. He's top-notch. He's playing so well right now. We've got our hands full stopping him. But I think our guys look forward to that challenge. It's not an easy one."
Reid recalled a conversation he had with Matt Campbell, Purdy's football coach at Iowa State, that gave him an early clear perspective on the kind of player Purdy was.
"Yeah, he was Mr. Irrelevant. He's done a great job," Reid said. "I remember talking to the coach at Iowa State, his head coach, and he said he completely changed the program around. And he's doing the same thing here. I'm sure Kyle [Shanahan] is very glad to have him on board. And he's doing a phenomenal job for him."
It is clear that both teams have an immense amount of respect for one another, but when Sunday rolls around, playing nice might not be the approach either team takes.
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