Kansas City Chiefs all-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes has known ever since watching his dad play professionally that it's what he wanted to do. The former first-round pick out of Texas Tech has already pieced together a career that many players would sign up to have. He credits part of it to guys like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

Speaking on the WHOOP Podcast, the Chiefs' signal caller praised the work ethic of Rodriguez and Jeter and talked about how it laid the groundwork for him.

“One part of it is I grew up and I’ve always envisioned I was gonna be a professional athlete. I thought that was the way I was gonna go and not really having a backup plan was how I was gonna spend my life. At the same time, I was seeing the great athletes and how hard they work. That’s where I really learned the most. You see guys like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter hit home runs and make all these plays, but you don’t see how they put three to four hours before every single game just working on the fundamentals. I think that’s what got me to where I’m at, just knowing I gotta put in the work to be where I want to be at.” – Patrick Mahomes on the WHOOP Podcast.

The Chiefs QB1 grew up around professional sports, with his father playing in the MLB. While Mahomes ended up taking the football route, seeing guys like Rodriguez do the little things day after day left a lasting impressing on Mahomes.

“I think one thing that always sticks out to me is I remember when I was young, my dad made me hit off a tee a lot. When I got to coach pitch and regular kid pitch and stuff like that, I never wanted to hit off a tee. Well then when he got on the Rangers, I saw Alex Rodriguez who was MVP doing all this other stuff and every single day, he’s hitting off a tee to start his day, just working on the fundamentals. That stuck with me forever.” – Mahomes.

One thing is for certain, Mahomes has already developed into the type of generational talent that as long as he's under center, the Chiefs will always be a threat to win the Lombardi Trophy every single year. Part of that, is due to him observing the work ethics of Rodriguez and Jeter from a young age.