Patrick Mahomes and real talk: What we learned from ESPN's Chiefs documentary

New York Times

5 days ago

The Kansas City Chiefs-based ESPN original series, 'The Kingdom,' is an ambitious undertaking.
Not only does the six-part series — premiering Thursday on ESPN+ — seek to chronicle the 2024 Chiefs season, but it also aims to tell the story of the Chiefs franchise while highlighting founder Lamar Hunt's impact on the NFL.
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That's a lot to weave in. But perhaps not surprisingly, given that this had many of the same producers as 'The Last Dance,' featuring Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the series tells a cohesive story while seamlessly pulling viewers from the present to the past and back — all while featuring some never-seen-before video footage.
Start with this: Chiefs fans will be binge-watching this right away. Remember, this is the same fan base that turned a 2024 Chiefs-themed Hallmark film into the most-watched cable movie of the year. This one should be an even bigger hit.
And while it's clear from viewing that the Chiefs had some editorial oversight — other fan bases might not love how glowingly the Chiefs organization is referenced throughout — there's still plenty of 'real' that happens on camera that provides some genuine insight into the team's biggest stars.
Here are three takeaways after watching the entire series:
The end of each episode lists Mahomes as one of the series' executive producers. Seeing that could make one think Mahomes eliminated any potentially controversial clips related to him.
It doesn't appear that happened.
In fact, one of the best parts of the documentary is seeing Mahomes in private moments where he has let his guard down.
There's a rehab session with trainer Bobby Stroupe after a midseason ankle injury. After pushing himself to the limit, Mahomes sits down and takes a few deep breaths, staring at the floor.
The emotion in his eyes is clear. He's not sure — at that moment — if he'll be back for the team's next game Saturday against the Houston Texans.
That sort of clip only adds to the drama when he's able to return to the field (and win) a few days later.
Mahomes also shares an honest moment the day before Super Bowl LIX while getting his hair cut by DeJuan Bonds. We can watch as the barber chair turns into a confessional of sorts for Mahomes, who acknowledges how difficult it is to deal with the barrage of people who have contacted him — and want something from him — in the hours before the biggest game of his life.
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Even after the Super Bowl, Mahomes has unfiltered moments. Mahomes says leaving the football field after the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was 'one of the low points of my career.'
Later, when chatting with Stroupe, Mahomes diagnoses that the Chiefs 'tried to put too much in' offensively ahead of Super Bowl 59.
'By the time we just went back to simple,' Mahomes says, 'it was too late.'
Mahomes might not be the only focus of the documentary, but he no doubt becomes the star by allowing people into a personal space reserved for only a few around him.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid — known for not typically allowing cameras in his team's locker room — was asked earlier in training camp why he agreed to let ESPN's crew be around last season.
'Our owner asked me to do it,' Reid said with a smile. 'It's not really my deal, but he's my boss, and I jumped on it.'
One would have to think Reid will appreciate that he relented after watching the entire production, as it provides greater insight into his Hall of Fame career while not sugarcoating the rough parts either.
And ESPN does deserve credit for that. It does not shy away from some of the Chiefs' most negative headlines of the past, whether it's addressing the death of Reid's son, Garrett, running back Kareem Hunt shoving a woman or when Pat Mahomes Sr.'s alcohol problems affected his son.
For Reid, though, the series provides an unexpected glimpse into a personal life that he's mostly kept private.
One of the best moments comes when Reid talks about seeing his family on the field after winning a Super Bowl. He becomes emotional on camera, having to gather himself before trying to continue with his words.
We also see more of the sacrifices he doesn't talk about much. ESPN is there when Reid's truck pulls into the Chiefs' facility at 3:34 on a random morning and skips backward to show the photos of a once-journeyman coach whose five children were all born in different states.
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Reid also takes viewers inside his Dana Point, Calif., beach house — a location he uses now as a 'good spot to decompress' directly after the NFL season.
While Reid has rarely shown this personal side, it's certainly a benefit to viewers that he allowed himself to be uncomfortable in this sort of setting.
The documentary is multifaceted, offering something for just about everyone who might watch.
Even the most diehard Chiefs fans, for instance, will learn something as the team retraces its history to the AFL days with the Dallas Texans. And one only starts to understand the reality of the team's global reach while seeing clips from watch parties around the globe.
Yes, there's a touch of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, too, though it's clear that Kelce was not one of the Chiefs prominently interviewed for this project.
The unexpected star, however? That would be defensive end Chris Jones, who becomes a central figure.
Jones is considered a team leader, but the inside footage shows just how much he impacts everyone on the defense. He's the speaker in almost every defensive huddle, and he's also constantly talking on the sideline, whether that's to defensive teammates, Mahomes, or even officials while asking what their replay call is about to be.
He also becomes the team's leading voice late. ESPN shares Jones' voice from the locker room after the Super Bowl loss, as he shares what teammates should take away from the defeat and how it should motivate them for next season.
There are other good excerpts, including a Leo Chenal jersey story and DeAndre Hopkins becoming emotional while sharing a hug with his mother on the field.
In the end, Chiefs fans are most likely to be drawn to the team's biggest stars while making their way through this six-part series.
And the good news? Mahomes, Reid and Jones all share a part of themselves that hasn't been revealed before.
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