Hello, and welcome to Super Bowl bootcamp.
The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers are studying film and mastering their game plan for Sunday night's championship match up in Miami, so you might as well hit the books as well at E!'s makeshift football academy.
No, we're not here to tell you that Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a once-in-a-generation talent with a cunning ability to keep a play alive and the confidence and strength to gun it at will, or remark how that led him to notch the NFL's third-ever 50-passing touchdown season is his first season as starter, collecting an MVP trophy along the way.
Nor do we want to talk about how the 49ers won big on their gamble to trade a second round draft pick to lift Tom Brady's capable backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, out of New England. Or how the under-recruited Eastern Illinois University grad has proven to be money in third-down situations. Though if you're into all that, might we suggest boning up here and here?
Because we'd rather dish on Garoppolo's sweet tooth (he's called Starbursts the "best candy ever"), Mahomes penchant for putting ketchup on everything ("Putting ketchup on a $70 steak blows my mind," godfather and retired MLB pitcher LaTroy Hawkins remarked to Bleacher Report. "But, hey, to each his own,") and the time the 49ers sanctioned a bracket-style tournament to christen their new QB with a new nickname in 2018. Jimmy GQ, a reference to the good looks that have earned him "best smile" honors and the way he fills a well-cut suit, beat out Optimus Dime. (Though rumor has it his Patriots teammates called him Prince Aladdin, a nod to his stunning resemblance to a certain Disney character.)
You see, that's the kind of content on offer her.
So whether you're curious about their sporty pasts (son of longtime relief pitcher Pat Mahomes and a three-sport high school star, the Chiefs' leader was actually drafted as a pitcher by the Detroit Tigers in 2014, but decided to stick to his plan to sling the pigskin at Texas Tech) or if you've got a shot a dating one of them (survey says: maaaaaybe), take a time out from whatever you're doing to check out our tale of the tape below.
A linebacker at Rolling Meadows High School outside Chicago, Jimmy Garoppolo didn't start under center until the star quarterback got injured his junior year "and I kinda got thrust into the situation," the 28-year-old said on the Murph & Mac Show in 2017. With limited offers, the 6-foot-2 athlete landed at East Illinois University where he topped Tony Romo's school record for career pass completions, earning himself a second round draft spot. No wonder his Instagram bio states he's "Just livin life one day at a time."
"He was throwing a baseball and shooting a basketball before he could damn-near walk," godfather Hawkins told Bleacher Report of watching 6-foot-3 Tyler, Texas native Patrick Mahomes II grow up in dugouts. The natural athleticism translated to the 24-year-old's three record-setting seasons at Texas Tech. Still, backup Nic Shimonek told the outlet, "If he wanted to play baseball, he could be in the major leagues right now. If he wanted to play basketball—and he was a couple inches taller—he probably could've."
Though, logically, Garoppolo was aware that vet Brady was a more skilled QB, "You have to have that mindset, that you want to be the starter," he explained to Bleacher Report in 2018. "Even when I was a little kid, my brothers, whenever we would play, I would literally always think I was going to win. I wouldn't, but I would always think that. It's like when I go to New England, when I first got there, I thought in my head, 'I'm better than this dude.'"
His jack-of-all-trades abilities (he's also skilled at golf, pingpong and whiffle ball) make Mahomes a winner…and a terrible loser. "In Nashville, we did this axe-throwing thing. It's a big bull's-eye. A piece of wood. He lost the first game, and you could tell he got so upset. He didn't lose another one," childhood friend Coleman Patterson recalled to Bleacher Report last year. "He came back and won the whole thing and got a little trophy." Mahomes' youth sports teammate has seen that translate on the field as well, "He puts this serious mode on, where, Boom, 'I know what I have to do and I will do it no matter what. Because I know I can do it.'"
Guys, it appears Mr. GQ is available. Previously linked to Boston-based model Alexandra King, he's kept any potential paramours off his social media feed, explaining he doesn't love the attention on his romantic life. (A lesson he learned the hard way after being spotted out to dinner with adult film star Kiara Mia in 2018.) The one woman he will brag on: Momma G. He's called Denise Garoppolo, who was on his arm at the 2014 draft, "The only girl I'll ever need."
Mahomes, on the other hand, is decidedly taken. Following a stint playing professional soccer in Iceland, his high school sweetheart Brittany Matthews joined him in Kansas City to put her kinesiology degree to good use founding Brittany Lynne Fitness, a website that offers merch and training programs. Last year, they shelled out $1.925 on a home large enough to store Mahomes' 180-pair shoe gallery. "Setting down roots in Kansas City was huge for us," he told Bleacher Report. "We're trying to be here for a long time."
Garoppolo has turned up at Play60 events, encouraging kids to get active, and more than a few charity functions. But for the second youngest of Denise and Tony Garoppolo's four sons, largesse begins at home. One of the first things he did with his record-breaking $137.5 million five-year contract was spread the wealth to his kin. "As far as helping my family, I do everything that I can for them," he told FOX Business. "It is a blessed opportunity that I was given and I'm trying to help as many people as I can."
Alongside Matthews, the first round draft pick formed his 15 and the Mahomies Foundation last year, focused on initiatives that help underprivileged youth. "The fans come out every single week and show passion and love for us and our team and what we're doing here," he explained to USA Today, "so for me, I want to be back in the community, giving back. And just be a part of it, to show the same love and passion to them."
After the San Francisco Zoo dubbed one of their snow leopards Jimmy G, the two-legged big cat, popped in for a visit last year to meet the leop and his cubs. (Well, that and attend a fundraiser.)
Once chased by the neighborhood dog as a kid, "He used to be insanely intimidated by dogs," Shimonek told Bleacher Report of Mahomes. "Any dogs." (That includes the French bulldog Shimonek's roommate kept as a pet.) Today, however, he and Matthews count pit bull Steel and Cane Corso Silver as family. On the pups' shared Instagram page, says Shimonek, "he and his girlfriend are posting pictures and videos all the time of him just cuddling on the couch."
Should his gig as a starting NFL quarterback not work out, Garoppolo has a future as an influencer. His list of sponcon opportunities is long, including deals with Men's Wearhouse, Bose and Levi's.
The QB famously appears in State Farm commercials alongside his, um, Mahomie Aaron Rodgers. But he's also done paid partnerships with Essential Water and Bose.
Having earned two Super Bowl rings with the Patriots' leader Tom Brady, the duo remain close. "Yeah, he shot me a text, just good luck and everything like that," Garoppolo said of how his pal hyped him up ahead of his matchup with Mahomes and the Chiefs. "And, you know, just 'go handle business,' you know, wasn't anything too complicated, just 'go win.'"
No surprise Mahomes counts another legendary athlete as a pal. After he hung with LeBron James at a post-ESPY bash, the Los Angeles Laker tweeted, "Good seeing you again @PatrickMahomes!! My guy best of luck this year".
During last year's post-season, he enjoyed the "island life" in Maui and hung at the Kentucky Derby with former teammates Brady and Jacoby Brissett.
Presumably visiting his gal while she was winning her Icelandic soccer league, Mahomes dropped into the country's Blue Lagoon in July 2017. He and Matthews have also enjoyed trips to Hawaii and Turks and Caicos. Next up, Disney World?