LAS VEGAS, NV — With Super Bowl Media Week in full swing here in Las Vegas, there are lots of subplots and other intriguing storylines developing out here in the desert. One thing that is clear is that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are the main attractions all up and down the Strip.
Here are my thoughts and observations from Media Week here in Vegas.
1.) Travis Kelce is the biggest star at Media Week:
Call it the Taylor Swift effect, but like it or not, you’re gonna have to deal with the brash, talented and gifted Cleveland Heights native at your own peril. Arguably the best tight end in the game today, Kelce can best be described as a force multiplier for an already explosive Chiefs offense.
Being mentioned in the same breath as Jerry Rice is one thing, but then you’re sixty minutes away from your third Super Bowl ring in five years and dating the biggest global icon in the world, you’re doing something right. There is a reason why Kelce has been mobbed by hundreds of media at his podium all week, and it will only continue up until game day.
For someone who has had so much scrutiny and publicity over his relationship with Swift, Kelce looks, sounds and gives of the vibe that it doesn’t phase him one bit, and is ready to let his fame do the talking on the field.
2.) Legacy seems to be driving Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
At the age of 28, Mahomes is widely considering the best quarterback of his era, and the modern-day G.O.A.T in already winning two Super Bowls before the age of 30. That being said, despite all of his many accomplishments, Mahomes seems more driven and determined here in Vegas to cement his place on the Mt. Rushmore. At the Chiefs media avaialbity event, he sounded like a person driven and determined to not settle for just winning his third Super Bowl, but to add his name to the very short list of QB’s to win back-to-back titles.
While the odds currently have the Niners as -2.5 favorites over the Chiefs, it would not be wise–nor is it ever to bet again No.15
3.) 49ers QB Brock Purdy is anything but Mr. Irrelevant.
Last in the NFL Draft, top in the league as a Super Bowl champion? If there is a modern-day Kurt Warneresque football story made for Hollywood, it is the one of Brock Purdy. The 262nd pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Iowa State, Purdy has lit the NFL on fire in leading the Niners to a 12-4 record and their seventh Super Bowl in completing 308-of-444 passes for 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Modest, unassuming and humble, Purdy projected a quiet confidence that bordered on cocky, but very determined to make a name for himself thanks to conveying the maturity of a seasoned vet instead of a player drafted last. Rehardless of the result, look for Purdy to cash in big in the off-season.