Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has come a long way since he began his career as a backup to Alex Smith just a few years ago. It is safe to say that he would not have had it any other way.

Mahomes spent his entire rookie year learning the ropes behind Smith. He once again attributed plenty of his early success to his former teammate, via Jake Montero of KNBR:

“Yeah, I learned a ton from Alex Smith,” Mahomes said. “I attribute a lot of my success, especially so early in my career, to him. I mean the way he was able to go about being a professional. Going out there and having the great year that he had my first year, and just seeing how he went about every single day, and how to game plan and how to recognize coverages.”

Mahomes has never been one to pass up an opportunity to praise Smith's selflessness when it came to helping him develop into a bonafide franchise quarterback for the Chiefs. Smith's efforts paid huge dividends toward Mahomes' progression under center.

“He didn’t hold anything back from me,” Mahomes said. “He taught me, and that’s just the type of person he was, and that he is, and I attribute a lot of my success to him.”

It would have been easy for Smith to hold back on his advice and let Mahomes figure out things on his own considering the Chiefs had essentially brought in his future replacement. Instead, he took the rookie under his wing and never looked back.

Mahomes is now looking to finish what Smith started by getting Kansas City over the hump, as he has the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Although it remains to be seen if the latter will ever be able to play again, there is no denying the lasting impact he has had on the league