Troy Aikman was not on the call for Super Bowl LVII, but many football fans took aim at the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback after the Chiefs defeated the Eagles.
That’s because Aikman’s poorly-aged bravado at the expense of Patrick Mahomes resurfaced upon Kansas City coming out on top at State Farm Stadium. Back in September 2019, The Athletic put Mahomes’ rapid ascension into perspective by pointing out the Chiefs quarterback had thrown for 36% of Aikman’s career touchdowns in about 8% of the games. The Hall of Fame signal-caller responded by saying, “Talk to me when he has 33% of my Super Bowl Titles.”
Well, Mahomes crossed that threshold a little over four months later when Kansas City defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. And with Sunday’s championship triumph over Philadelphia, Mahomes now is only one Lombardi Trophy shy of matching Aikman’s career Super Bowl wins. Mind you, the 2022 season was Mahomes’ sixth as a starter and Aikman quarterbacked America’s Team for 12 campaigns.
In fairness to the No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, he didn’t take a blind jab at Mahomes and was merely clapping back when he caught a ricochet shot three years ago. But at the time of the dig, Mahomes had an MVP season under his belt and was one win shy of reaching the Super Bowl in his first season as a starter in Kansas City. A championship only felt like a matter of time for Mahomes, so Aikman might have stood a bit too tall when he defended himself.
Regardless, Mahomes now is in a different conversation with multiple titles to his credit. The football world is eager to see if the Chiefs phenom can approach Tom Brady’s career marks.
