FMIA: How KC landed Patrick Mahomes in 2017, mastermind Steve Spagnuolo & re-watching Super Bowl LVIII

April 27, 2017. A day that will live in glorious history for one franchise, and in what-might-have-been glumness for others.

Around dinnertime in Louisiana, pro golfer Ryan Palmer—good friend of Saints coach Sean Payton—and pal Jordan Spieth drove over to the Saints’ facility for a treat: In town for the Zurich Classic, Spieth and Palmer were invited to sit in the Saints’ draft room for the first round. Spieth’s a huge football fan.

“I’d never been in a war room before, and I was excited,” Spieth, three-time major winner, recalled last week.

Payton took the golfers on a tour of the facility. “We really like this Patrick Mahomes kid,” Payton told them. “He’s the steal of the draft. I’m not sure everyone knows that.”

But the Saints liked Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore a lot, too—he was rated in their top three players overall—and if Lattimore got to the Saints’ pick at 11 in round one, Payton and GM Mickey Loomis would be thrilled. No way Mahomes and Lattimore would both be there, right? One other wrinkle: At one point, Drew Brees and a couple of Purdue friends walked in—they were going to watch the round, too. That created a bit of an awkward situation.

Spieth said: “Sean came up to us and said, ‘First time Drew’s ever shown up for the draft. He doesn’t know [about the interest in Mahomes]. So if it comes to it, I’m gonna have to tell him.’ “

Payton did tell Brees of the possibility long before the Saints’ pick; Brees, 38, was a pro about it. Still weird in there, though. The first round kicked off. One quarterback, Mitchell Trubisky, in the top eight. No corners. The draft was setting up perfectly for the Saints. Now Cincinnati was up at nine. Middling quarterback need with Andy Dalton in-house, coming off a 6-9-1 season. Big cornerback need. Bengals weren’t trading the pick.

The Saints waited. Nervously.

Some 850 miles to the north, another team waited. The front office, collectively, was more nervous. This team’s co-director of player personnel, who’d spent the 2016 college season chasing a player still on the board, sat in the draft room at his computer. This computer had access to the league’s internal wire, which sent out the first notice of all picks that night. The personnel man pressed the “return” button over and over, refreshing the feed every few seconds.

“Time was standing still,” the personnel man said. “Seemed like the Bengals were on the clock for an hour.”

Return … return … return. Refresh … refresh … refresh.

Finally, a name for Cincinnati

Boldface Names
Boldface names/things as deep breaths are taken around the football world between the Super Bowl and the Scouting Combine:

Justin Spieth, Masters and U.S. Open and The Open champ, saw Mahomes to Kansas City before the rest of us did. “I love telling this story,” he told me Friday.

Steve Spagnuolo, take a bow. Take several.

New-found appreciation for Nick Bolton. The story Spagnuolo told me about the biggest play of the fourth quarter says everything about Spagnuolo’s respect for his players, particularly his defensive signal-caller—and the trust Bolton has in Spagnuolo.

Supe 42. Patriots, after starting 18-0, lost to the Giants and rookie coordinator Spagnuolo. That Super Bowl and this one were fairly similar in the way of the winning defensive gameplan. I reminded Spagnuolo, who said: “You are bringing chills to me right now.”

Words USA Today would like to have back, re Mahomes post-round one in 2017: “Calling Mahomes a project is a major understatement. He’s nowhere near ready to play in the NFL. And, honestly, he may never be.”

Oooof. But, you know, we’ve all been there. I certainly have.

“The only thing I don’t like about this player is his voice.”

Spencer Burford, you’re probably not going to want to read this column.

Jauan Jennings might have come within a missed block of being Super Bowl LVIII MVP. Might have.

Victory parade, marred. “From total joy to primal fear.”

Only in America. Yeah, but thoughts and prayers.

Guess what happened 108 quarters ago? For Kansas City, that very, very much might have mattered in overtime Sunday.

Trent McDuffie, Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey. What gallant games you played.

Not so fast on the crucifixion of Kyle Shanahan for taking the ball to start OT. I’d rather analyze it than hot-take it.

I owe you one, Bill Vinovich. The best-officiated games are the ones with the officials you don’t notice. I do not remember a big game with so little commentary on the zebras as Super Bowl LVIII. Congrats to Vinovich and the crew: umpire Terry Killens Jr., down judge Patrick Holt, line judge Mark Perlman, field judge Tom Hill, side judge Allen Baynes, back judge Brad Freeman and replay official Mike Chase.

Negotiating strategy is not Chris Jones’ strong suit. “I ain’t going nowhere, baby!” said the free-agent-to-be Wednesday, and 800,000 KC fans heard it.

Ann McKee, hero.

Caitlin Clark, there is no one like you. A jillion props to you.