NEW ORLEANS — When you're bidding to become the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls, everyone wants a piece of you.
That certainly applies to autograph seekers and memorabilia collectors, who are looking to capture the moment for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty.
At a Super Bowl media session Tuesday in a downtown New Orleans hotel, Mahomes said he is constantly besieged by autograph requests — but the three-time Super Bowl MVP considers that an honor.
Mahomes said he couldn't possibly fathom a guess on how many autographs he signs over the course of a year, but the Chiefs star understands why so many people want his signature.
“I was a little kid asking for autographs with my dad,” said Mahomes, whose father, Patrick Sr., pitched in the major leagues for 11 seasons. “Especially for the kids that want to live out their dream and they’re looking for some inspiration, I always sign those autographs for them.”
Patrick Mahomes was once “cornered” into signing a man’s back tattoo. pic.twitter.com/EaQcScclf8
— cllct (@cllctMedia) February 4, 2025
As far as the strangest request Mahomes has received, it was less of a sweet memory: “I signed some man’s back, because he had a tattoo of me on his back … I got kinda cornered in, so I had to do it … that was a pretty strange one.”
Chiefs receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown was able to put a number on how many autographs he has signed in the past year, and it was an eye-popping figure: 100,000.
That six-digit sum would equal out to around 275 signatures per day over the course of the full calendar, but Brown didn't hesitate to pick out the one signature request that was the most unusual.
“I signed a baby in training camp," Brown said. "A few babies.”
Across town at the Eagles media session, Philadelphia cornerback Quinyon Mitchell might have both Mahomes and Brown beat for the strangest request: Mitchell said he once was asked to sign "some handcuffs."
While Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. said he wasn't quite sure he hit 100,000 signatures in a year, he thought his total might land in the same ballpark as Brown.
"You sign a lot of autographs, but you're blessed to. It's part of the job," said Smith, who cited his strangest request as being asked to sign a Georgia baseball.
"Between all the stickers, I'm probably (still) under that a little bit. But, man, between the stickers and trying to get those trading cards done, it's a lot."
Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat is on the other end of the spectrum; in fact, the seventh-year pro might present one of the biggest challenges for autograph collectors.
Sweat initially said he had signed "zero" autographs in the last year, but then amended his estimate to "maybe a few for people who have been hanging around the front entrance of our facility. ... (but) I don't really sign that much."
Kevin Jackson is the Chief Content Officer for cllct. He spent 25 years at ESPN Digital Media, where he was the founding editor of Page 2, and nearly four years as the Executive Director for Digital Content at FOX Sports.