Fair to say that Patrick Mahomes has always gone for the big plays.
Years before he led his team to a second Super Bowl victory in 2023, the three-sport Whitehouse High School athlete (a star quarterback, he also played basketball and baseball) was just another 18-year-old trying to dream up an Insta-worthy promposal for his cheerleader girlfriend of more than two years.
He'd done the whole scrawl-prom?-all-over-her-car thing for her senior year in 2013, "SCARING the crap out of me," Brittany Mahomes (née Matthews) shared on her feed at the time. And he'd gone "cute and simple" with a cookie cake invite to his winter formal later that year. So for 2014's big dance, he landed on a golf theme, teeing up his ask with a homemade sign and enough balls to spell out his simple query.
Madly in love, as evidenced by the number of times they used social media to brag on one another's accomplishments, the teens truly thought they had what it took to go the distance.
Never mind that he was set to lead the Texas Tech University Red Raiders, some 450 miles from where she was already playing soccer at the University of Texas-Tyler.
"This boy has my whole heart!" the then-high schooler explained in one November 2013 snap. "So freaking proud of youu! I love you so much!"
Where countless idealistic college freshman have failed, Patrick and his high school sweetheart have sprinted to an easy victory.
Some seven months after the Kansas City Chiefs QB snagged his first world championship back in 2020, he turned up at Arrowhead Stadium to get his ring and give away another. "On a day that was meant to celebrate you, you turned it into celebrating us," Brittany proclaimed of the Sept. 1 proposal that saw Patrick upgrading his teenage machinations to a plan more befitting his status as the NFL's new wunderkind.
A lit-up marquee and a suite dripping with flowers and candlelight replaced handwritten signs and Mrs. Fields confections, while prom tickets were swapped out for an emerald-cut diamond with as many carat as they'd spent years together.
The words he said forever etched in her mind, Brittany recounted how her forever teammate had created the perfect day: "You took my entire breath away and I could not have imagined anything better."
Except maybe another little surprise that the 28-year-olds—born just 17 days apart in 1995—had been growing. Their big reveal came exactly four weeks later when Brittany posted, "Mom & Dad, taking a small detour to the wedding."
After welcoming baby girl Sterling Skye Mahomes in February 2021, the couple temporarily put a pin in wedding planning, eventually marrying in Maui 13 months later. But by then, their future had been set for the better part of a decade.
Toasting to "a lifetime" with him on their seventh anniversary in March 2019, a full year and a half before their engagement, Brittany addressed those concerned about the slow pace they were taking to the altar. "To everyone that's gonna ask when we are getting married," she said, "the answer is whenever we want."
Because while the haters are gonna hate, hate, hate, these are two people who have become very adept at shaking it off.
Back in college, as Patrick was cementing his reputation as a gunslinger, becoming the Red Raiders' third leading passer in program history and topping the nation in total offense his final two years, his girlfriend was racking up her own victories on the pitch.
Signing on to play soccer at the University of Texas satellite campus "because it was close to home and I knew a few girls that played here that loved it and told me I need to join the family," Brittany scored a record-setting 18 goals her senior year, making her an exciting prospect for professional leagues worldwide.
And so weeks after Patrick was selected 10th in the 2017 NFL draft, cutting his college career a year short, Brittany signed a contract of her own with Iceleand's UMF Afturelding/Fram ("I could never pass up such an amazing experience to go do what I love," she explained), leading local station KLTV to dub the then-21-year-olds "the power couple of East Texas."
And after a year navigating 3,000-plus miles worth of long distance that saw Brittany win a championship and Patrick secure his spot as the Chiefs' starting QB, they decided to stake their claim in western Missouri.
Joining Patrick in his Kansas City digs, Brittany made use of her kinesiology degree, founding at-home workout brand Brittany Lynne Fitness. Explaining her transition away from professional sports, she said on her site, "By the end of my first season, I truly began to fall in love with being in the gym more than being on the soccer field. Playing sports my whole life got me into fitness and playing in college taught me about strength training, wellness and maintaining peak fitness to perform at an elite level."
She's learned a bit about marketing as well. Between her Insta workouts, her partnership with clothing line Balance Athletica and game day style that regularly earns her upwards of hundreds of thousands' worth of double-taps, she's built up a dedicated fanbase, one loyal enough to even give her pups Steel and Silver a follow.
And while Patrick was putting together championship seasons, becoming the youngest Super Bowl MVP, signing record-breaking multimillion-dollar contracts and snapping up baseball teams, Brittany was making her own money moves, joining an ownership group that brought NWSL team Kansas City Current to their adopted city. (He invested as well in 2023.)
"I have a true level of appreciation for what these incredible women do on a daily basis," she said in a statement. "We have the greatest fans and community here in KC and I can't wait to huddle around this team."
First she had some business to take care of with her own squad.
With their careers cemented, the two bought in Kansas City's upscale Mission Hills neighborhood back in 2019, their nearly $2 million, three-bedroom spread "the first home that either of us have ever owned," Patrick shared in a Bleacher Report video. "Renting a house wasn't for us, we wanted our own place."
Eager to be done with their college-era roots, Patrick adorably marveled at "just being able to nail stuff into the wall and not have to get, like, sticky tabs—like you can do whatever you want with the home now."
Or even create a whole new game plan.
A month after he signed his 10-year, $477 million contract extension in 2020, Patrick plunked down cash on an 8-acre piece of land to build their dream home. Confident they'd put down roots, he explained in Netflix's Quarterback, "I was like, 'I'm gonna be here, I might as well build the exact house I want.'"
For the pair, who moved in shortly after his second Super Bowl win, that meant a massive pool, golf hole, a 50-yard football field and enough space for a growing family.
Two months after their Hawaii vows, Brittany and Patrick announced they were expecting a sibling for daughter Sterling. Son Bronze joined the squad in November 2022.
Since then, the Mahomes' future has continued to appear bright.
As Patrick leads his team to a third potential championship, Brittany has been playing cheer captain alongside another familiar face. "Twinning & Winning," Brittany captioned her most recent Instagram with Taylor Swift who, in case you haven't heard, is dating the boy on the football team, Patrick's go-to tight end Travis Kelce.
And while Brittany hasn't won, say, 12 Grammys, she's certainly Patrick's MVP.
"She has her head on her shoulders the right way," Patrick told E! News in July. "She's my rock. She's the one that, through tough times, can get me through."
Tackling the role of quarterback in their family, she makes everything he does on the gridiron possible. As he told E!, "Having someone that supports you every single day like I do is the reason that I am in the position that I am today."
This story was originally published on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021 at 6 a.m. PT.