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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes chats with football media at training camp about actor Chadwick Boseman’s passing, social justice efforts, kneeling, head coach Andy Reid’s preparation, GM Brett Veach, owner Clark Hunt, and the uphill battle rookies have without an NFL Preseason. Footage courtesy of and provided by the Kansas City Chiefs organization.

Patrick Mahomes Press Conference Time Stamps:

• 00:00 Patrick Mahomes on Chadwick Boseman, social justice
• 01:28 Patrick Mahomes on Brett Veach
• 03:10 Patrick Mahomes on Clark Hunt, social justice efforts
• 03:54 Patrick Mahomes on kneeling
• 04:58 Patrick Mahomes on Andy Reid, Chiefs rookies
• 05:48 Patrick Mahomes on Arrowhead Stadium, Chiefs fans

Transcript courtesy of Kansas City Chiefs:

Q: What are your thoughts on the passing of Chadwick Boseman? Can you expand on your thoughts about fans who may not support the efforts you and Tyrann Mathieu are making regarding voter registration and Black Lives Matter? 

MAHOMES: “Yeah, the first part with Chadwick Boseman. I’m obviously a huge fan of all of his work and then at the same time, I got to be on “The Shop” with him right after this season and I got to meet him, after that we had a conversation there. Then we went to the NBA All-Star Game and we sat right beside each other, his wife, my girlfriend, they talked. Just great people and obviously, rest in peace to him. He was a great person, so total respect and total fan of him and his work. Then to go with the second part of the question. Yeah, I mean it’s more of, I’m going do whatever I believe and what I believe is right and I’m going to do whatever I can to fight for equality for all people and I mean, I feel like I’ve shown that over this offseason. I’m going to continue that fight and I’m not worried about people and how they’re going to do negative stuff back to me. I’m worried about doing what’s right for humanity and making sure that all people feel equal.” 

Q: Can you point to something maybe from a preparation standpoint that allows you all to be so effective on opening day?  What specifically about Brett Veach do you like as far as going forward with him as a general manager?  

MAHOMES: “Yeah, well, the first part of your question, as far as the offense I think that goes to the full team. I mean Coach (Andy) Reid runs a great training camp. I think that’s a big part of it. He puts us in situations that are really game-like, which I feel like is a huge advantage, especially with no preseason games. I mean he’s putting us in these situations every single day. We might not be tackling full, but we’re put in situations where we’re in third-and-long, third-and-short, trying to figure out ways to go throughout a game and situations that you’ll be a part of. So, I think that’s why we start so fast and we’re ready right out of the gate because the training camp coach runs. And then the second part of your question. I think first off is his work ethic. I mean, he’s a guy that’s in the facility almost as much as Coach Reid. I mean, he’s here all the time. He’s watching a ton of film and then I think he’s someone that you can trust, someone that would tell you exactly how he feels and to have people like that that you can go to, he’s going to tell you the negative, he’s going to tell you the positive, whatever it is, no matter who you are. That’s someone you can really trust. You know that they’re going to give you whatever they have every single day.” 

Q: What has Clark Hunt’s leadership been like for you to watch and what does it mean that he’s been so proactive in your guys’ efforts off the field as well? 

MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, it shows this organization is run the right way and Clark, being at the top of it, all the way down. I mean they hire people and they put people in positions to be the best that they can be every single day. And they’re the same way with us, they communicate with us whenever we want to communicate with them, and we have those open conversations and we thoroughly listen to each other. So, I feel that’s why you get such a great culture that we have here and such great players and we go out on the field and we win football games. So, we really trust each other every single day.” 

Q: On this year’s “Hard Knocks,” we got to see some internal discussions about social justice topics and one of the frustrations was just how much emphasis there is on whether or not you’re going to kneel. As one of the faces of the league, why is that so frustrating that there’s so much emphasis on the gesture and not the message behind the gesture? 

MAHOMES: “I think you said exactly what it is. It’s because it’s become something where it’s whether or not you’re going to kneel and instead of what the reason why the kneeling began in the beginning, which was social injustice and police brutality. And I feel like that’s been the biggest thing, it’s not necessarily the gesture but we’re trying to fix something, we’re trying to make it where it’s equal, everybody feels safe,  everybody feels secure, everybody can go about living their lives and they really, truly care about the person next to him. And I feel like that’s why people feel like it’s became such a thing is because every single time you get interviewed or you go out and you’re in public, people are asking “are you going to kneel, are you not going to kneel?” They’re not asking about the actual injustices that you’re trying to fix and what you’re trying to help the community with.” 

Q: The rookies this year have a challenge in that they’re playing their first-ever NFL snaps in an actual game. How tough is it going to be to actually have the rookies’ first snap come in a live game? 

MAHOMES: “Yeah, you know, it’ll 100 percent be different. I mean not being able to go about it, run the offense in a game. I mean, I think it’s more you are running a new system – you’re coming from college to a new system you have to run that offense, play fast without thinking, but still execute and do what you’re supposed to do every single play. I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge for them. But like I said, I think Coach Reid runs a great training camp, he puts those guys in those situations and puts those rookies – we’ve had rookies run with the ones, we’ve had  them run with the threes, we’ve had them run with the twos. They’re really put in every single situation for them to go out there and thrive and deal with adversity. And so, I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge is just how you deal with adversity quickly and how you get back and go out there and be a positive impact on the team.” 

Q: The team raised the championship flag today. What were your thoughts as far as the flag going up and then on the Thursday night home opener, how much are you looking forward to all of that’s going to be going on, even if it’s not going to be a full stadium?

MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think I’m just looking forward to being back in Arrowhead playing football for the Kansas City Chiefs and the championship banner is going to be special. It’s going to be something that you will remember for the rest of your life and I’m glad that we have a lot of the same guys on the team that were with me for that journey. And we’re going to enjoy that together and then we’re going to get right back to playing and try to find a way to go get another one.”