Jeter, Mahomes settle debate: 'Baseball is the hardest sport'

Standing in the upper-deck seats at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Derek Jeter and Patrick Mahomes looked at the photo between them.

On the left, Mahomes -- just 5 or 6 years old -- toddles on the field in a tiny baseball uniform. On the right is Jeter, then in his seventh season with the Yankees, tracing the Rangers logo on Mahomes’ cap (his father, Pat Mahomes, was pitching for Texas at the time).

“To Patrick,” Jeter wrote on the photo. “Best wishes.”

Now icons in their respective sports, Jeter and Mahomes recently reunited for a special interview on the FOX NFL Sunday pregame show. Filmed at the Chiefs’ home stadium, the segment included a discussion of the professional baseball career Mahomes nearly had.

Asked by Jeter what he hoped to do when he was 4 or 5 years old, Mahomes said: “I wanted to be a baseball player. A thousand percent.”

The two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time NFL MVP had a chance to follow in his father’s footsteps, selected by the Tigers in the 37th round of the 2014 MLB Draft. But Mahomes didn’t sign, choosing to fulfill his commitment to Texas Tech instead. He focused on football there, and the rest was history.

“Even going to college, I was like, ‘I’m going to get drafted and play baseball,’” Mahomes told Jeter. “It really is cool to be here now, because I never would have expected it.”

While the Tigers drafted him as a pitcher, Mahomes originally had designs on a different position -- one familiar to Jeter.

“I wanted to be a shortstop,” Mahomes admitted.

Playing that position helped shape Mahomes’ football career. The Chiefs quarterback is known for his ad-lib plays and his ability to sling the ball downfield out of any arm slot.

Perhaps that comes from Jeter. The two captains watched some of Jeter’s highlights at shortstop on Arrowhead’s big screen, and it wasn’t hard to see some similarities.

“Oh, there we go right there,” Mahomes noted. “Now these are the throws that I’m imitating when I’m on the football field, man.”

“See, there we have it,” Jeter replied. “The reason for all your success as a quarterback is because you were watching old films of me.”

The two talked about their respective drives for success. Mahomes, who won Super Bowls LIV and LVII, is well aware that Jeter (a five-time World Series champion) values winning above all else.

“Once you win that Super Bowl -- like once you win the World Series -- anything less than that is not a success,” Mahomes said.

And of course, there was the question on everyone’s mind: Which sport is harder -- baseball or football?

“Hitting a baseball has got to be one of the toughest things to do in the world,” Mahomes said.

“There you go,” Jeter said. “Baseball is the hardest sport to play. Everybody got that?”