The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you get one more yard

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part

Looking back over the past year, few things have changed my mindset on life more than the passing of Tom Petty. I had always wanted to see Petty live in concert, but whenever he came around I’d have an obligation, felt too lazy to drive to the city or had some other weak excuse.

I will always regret not seeing Petty in concert before he died.

After missing out on Petty, I decided I’d never again miss an opportunity to make a memory. Petty’s death is the exact reason why I’ve purchased tickets to see ELO in August, even if that means I have to travel all the way to the east coast.

Life is too short not to enjoy it, right?

You’re probably wondering — what the hell does any of this have to do with football or the Kansas City Chiefs? For me, Petty’s song “The Waiting” is exactly how I feel as we wait to finally see Patrick Mahomes take the stage for the Chiefs, front and center.

The waiting is the hardest part

I’m 32 years old, and I’ve never seen the Chiefs draft and start their very own first-round quarterback. Earlier, I talked about making memories, and one such memory I’ll never forget is the night the Chiefs drafted Mahomes. To this day, I still can’t believe the Chiefs traded up and drafted Mahomes.

To be candid with you, watching the Chiefs draft Mahomes is one of my all-time favorite football memories, if not my favorite. This too can be summed up by Petty’s “The Waiting.”

Oh baby don’t it feel like heaven right now

Don’t it feel like somethin’ from a dream

Yeah I’ve never known nothing quite like this

Don’t it feel like tonight might never be again

Baby, we know better than to try and pretend

Baby no one could have ever told me ‘bout this

After the Chiefs drafted Mahomes, no one could have told me about how much I’d want to see him play. Over the past several months we’ve all probably watched Mahomes’ game against Denver multiple times. Some of us, like myself, have also rewatched Mahomes’ preseason games over and over and over again.

It’s hard not to want to watch the clock fly, passing the days by until we get to see new footage from Mahomes. The countdown for training camp, the preseason and then the regular season will be like torture. Finally, when the first regular-season game comes about, all of us will feel like it’s Christmas Day.

I’ve never felt this way about any quarterback for the Chiefs, ever. And I’m not the only one who feels this way.

And if you mean giving Denver 14 points "help" from Tyler Bray, then it's even more impressive what he did. I have been a fan of the Chiefs since I was 5 years old in 1968. I can't ever remember being this excited about an upcoming season. — Missouri Born - Alaska Livin' (@AlaskanRoyal) June 25, 2018

Fans who have been following the Chiefs since the 1960s are more excited for the Mahomes era to start than any other era they can remember.

But speaking of Brodie Croyle, it’s important to know where the Chiefs have come from.

Well yeah I might have chased a couple quarterbacks around

All it ever got me was down

Then there were those that made me feel good

But never as good as I’m feeling right now

Baby, you’re the only one that’s ever known how

To make me wanna live like I wanna live now

Once again, Petty’s lyrics reign supreme. The Chiefs have chased a lot of quarterbacks around.

There have been a lot of Chiefs quarterbacks that ever got me was down: Croyle, Matt Cassel, Damon Huard, Elvis Grbac, Brady Quinn, Tyler Palko, Steve Bono, the list goes on and on...

There were some that made me feel good: Trent Green, Alex Smith, Tyler Thigpen (seriously, the Chiefs were bad during his era but he was entertaining to watch).

But none of them have me feeling as good as I’m feeling right now with Mahomes.

The waiting is the hardest part

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the past year — it’s that life is too short not to enjoy it. Instead of breaking my mind every day over what Mahomes could be, I am going to spend my days just simply enjoying what Mahomes is.

Mahomes is your Kansas City Chiefs quarterback. As a Chiefs fan, you get to enjoy his play. No other fanbase will feel the same way about this type of play from Mahomes:

When your team realizes it has a QB who can throw his way out of the corner the defense painted him into, it instills an organization-wide resiliency that you're never out of the game. #PatrickMahomes #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/yxrhmAErpU — Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) June 29, 2018

Now just imagine if Mahomes pulls that off in a playoff game.

Mahomes plays for the Chiefs, and he’s not going anywhere. Training camp will roll around, the preseason will come and go, and Mahomes’ first full season will be over before you know it.

The one thing I’m focusing on is just enjoying the moments. When Mahomes throws a 65-yard bomb, I’m going to be there to enjoy it to the fullest. I’ve never seen the Chiefs have a quarterback with such potential, and regardless of the outcome, all I plan on doing is enjoying it.

We just have to get through all this waiting first, which has been the hardest part for me.

The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you get one more yard

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part

So go out there and have a great Fourth of July with your friends and family, play some Tom Petty, and live in the moment. It should help pass the time while you’re waiting to see Mahomes to play.

—

(All music credits go to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and UMG)