Patrick Mahomes literally made a player retire — and it's tough to blame him

Former SMU wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, a third-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010, caught 28 passes for 376 yards and two scores in 13 regular-season games. He also appeared in Super Bowl XLV with Mike Tomlin’s club.

In 2014, he joined the Denver Broncos and spent five-plus seasons with the club. He earned a Super Bowl 50 championship ring, but in 2019 he was traded during the season to the San Francisco 49ers. Lo and behold, the steady wideout would wind up playing on Super Sunday once again. His team fell to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-20, in South Florida at Super Bowl LIV.

Patrick Mahomes' 13-second drive forced Emmanuel Sanders to retire

Sanders played for the Saints in 2020 and the Bills in 2021. He finished his career with 704 catches for 9,245 and 51 touchdowns. He earned Pro Bowl invitations with the Broncos in both 2014 and ’16, and he made playoff appearances with each of the five franchises he suited up for.

On Friday, Sanders was making the talk show rounds on FS1, first appearing on The Facility. He admitted that he’s now retired because of one person.

Let’s clear up one fact. Kansas City’s thrilling 42-36 overtime win over the visiting Buffalo Bills actually came in the 2021 AFC Divisional Playoffs. Josh Allen’s fourth touchdown pass to wide receiver Gabriel Davis (and the subsequent PAT) with 13 seconds to play gave Sanders’ team a 36-33 lead.

Somehow, Patrick Mahomes worked his magic and got his team into game-tying field goal range. Harrison Butker hit a 49-yarder at the gun, and Mahomes’ TD pass to Travis Kelce in the extra session sent Kansas City to the AFC title game (where they lost to the Bengals in overtime).

Regardless, that heartbreaking six-point loss told Sanders it was time to move on. Now Mahomes and the Chiefs are looking to make history this year by becoming the first franchise to win three straight Super Bowls.