Patrick Mahomes sets lofty benchmark to judge when he’s passed Tom Brady as GOAT

Records that cannot be broken and careers that cannot be surpassed aren't good for business. Ratings are better when someone can sell the idea that Tom Brady — who was more likely to make it to the Super Bowl than Steph Curry is to drain a 3-point shot — could be chased down. That's why the early success of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes brought side-by-side comparisons with Brady, as unfair as it may have been.

Off the field, the two have been as respectful as possible toward each other, and Brady showed genuine acts of kindness to Mahomes in the years that their careers overlapped. Still, their on-field competitiveness did overflow into social media jabs from time to time.

Patrick Mahomes outlines how he can catch Tom Brady in GOAT debate

During an appearance on the "Impaulsive" podcast, Mahomes was asked about what he needs to do to catch Brady as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

"I think I just have to do what I just did these first seven years three more times," Mahomes said. "If you ever look at his career from 40 to 45, that's in the Hall of Fame, just those years. It's going to take consistency, longevity. But at the end of the day, all you can do is go out there and try to win and let that all handle itself."

It's difficult to compare their early-career passing statistics with so many independent variables. Not only were rules different, but so were the teams and offensive schemes that both quarterbacks inherited. At the end of the day, when both quarterbacks are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the debate will down to the glimmer of championship rings.

While Mahomes' three championships may not seem numerically distant from Brady's seven, they are worlds apart. The difference of four Super Bowls is equivalent to the entire career of Joe Montana.

Mahomes has proven to be a generational talent, but catching Brady will take more than just a generation. By the twilight of his career, Brady was beating the children of the opponents he faced in his early years. He maintained a stranglehold over the NFL for two decades in the free agency era, when great teams are meant to regress to the mean. To catch Brady, Mahomes will have to maintain his greatness for much longer than six years. He'll have to adapt to the ebbs and flows that come with a long career. There will be roster turnover, coaching changes, personnel adjustments, new schematic trends, injuries and — most inevitable of all — Father Time.

Mahomes relies on his physical athleticism and whip-like release to make acrobatic plays, but those electrifying traits will deteriorate over time. Mahomes plays with more situational awareness and better pocket movement than he used to, but the work doesn't end. He'll need to fine-tune his mechanics and redefine himself many more times, and he knows how difficult that will get with age.

"Tom’s skewed people’s brains on how hard that is to do because of how well he took care of his body," Mahomes said in a TIME interview last month. "So I’m about to make sure that I get rid of this dad bod if I want to play to 45."

Football is a game of attrition. If Father Time doesn't catch a player, fatigue often does. By age 30, even the most jubilant and energetic players begin to wear down from the daily monotony of film study, meetings, practices and training room sessions. Family becomes more important while football becomes more tasking.

"I’ve looked, if I played until Tom [Brady]’s age, my daughter would be 19, 20 years old," Mahomes said. "I would love to play that long. At the same time, I want to be there for my daughter. If I can do that, I’ll continue to play. But if I feel like it’s taking away from my family time, that’s when I’ll know it’s time to go."

To have a chance of catching Brady, Mahomes will have to endure all of those things — and much more.

"If you're going to compete against me, you better be willing to give up your life," Brady once said. "Because I'm giving up mine."

But now that he has hung up his cleats, Brady is rooting for Mahomes to win.

"There’s nothing that Patrick can do, in my opinion, that takes away from what I tried to accomplish in my career and there’s nothing that I did [that] can take away from what he’s trying to accomplish," Brady said in January. "And believe me, if anybody can go out there and win seven Super Bowls, I have so much respect for them. I understand how difficult it is. I will congratulate them and I’m going to give whoever it is a big hug."