Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes reveals annual training camp tradition that helps form strong team brotherhood

The Kansas City Chiefs just wrapped their 2024 NFL training camp at Missouri Western State in St. Joseph, Missouri, turning their immediate attention to preseason Week 2 .

As they head back to Kansas City for the next several weeks, they'll be able to look back on 2024's time in St. Joe as a success. After all, training camp is where the foundation is laid for the upcoming season. Each year, a new group of guys bonds and grows together throughout the process.

"You've been able to see the growth," Chiefs HC Andy Reid said following practice. "We've added a ton in the last few days up here, and the guys have digested it, been able to spit it back, retain it. That's a positive. And then maybe most of all is getting yourself into football shape and kind of ramping up to your first game against the Ravens."

Some of that bonding and building doesn't just take place on the football field, though. Some of it doesn't even take place in the dorms. According to Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, the brotherhood and culture in Kansas City is formed at an excursion off campus.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes spills the beans on the annual pizza party

Asked about the camaraderie built in the dorms of Missouri Western State, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes had a great answer. He told reporters on Thursday that some of the best moments occur when the team ventures out from campus for an annual tradition.

"I mean, for me, it's even more than the dorms," Mahomes explained. "We always go to REDACTED a couple of times, and we take the guys, we get some pizzas. I used to do it after the kind of like the second padded of day of practice, before the 10-10-10. So we were there yesterday — don't remember that for next year and try to storm our party. But we go there and you just eat and joke around."

This year, backup QB Ian Book seemed to be the butt of a joke that won't soon be forgotten. The first time around, when the team went for pizza, Book's pie was snatched by some hungry offensive linemen. The second time around, it was Book that filled up on pizza according to Mahomes.

"I think Ian Book had like, nine pieces of pizza yesterday, man," Mahomes said. "I had to calm him down, because the first time we went, the O-Line — he only got one piece because the O-Line ate all his pizza. So, he went in this last day. So, stuff like that is where you build that bond, and then you got those jokes and stuff for the rest of the year. That's what builds the great culture that we have."

When you're trying to get through the grind of the NFL season, it's moments like that you can cherish. It allows you to dig down deep and push a little bit harder for your brothers when your back is up against the wall.

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