Tom Brady admires one crucial aspect of Patrick Mahomes’ play

Whether they want it or not, current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady are going to be inextricably linked to one another. Yes, they played against one another in Super Bowl LV -- won dominantly by Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- but more importantly, these are likely the two greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.

By the simple construct of when each player was born, though, Mahomes will spend the majority of his NFL career chasing Brady's legacy. Mahomes has three Super Bowl rings in his chase to match Brady's seven titles as a starting quarterback. And at just 28 years old, he has time to make the GOAT debate even more interesting both in terms of achievements and statistics.

As fierce competitors, though, most of the interactions we see between Brady and Mahomes are built upon mutual respect but also with a twist of pseudo-rivalry coloring it as well. Which is why hearing Brady recently open up about what he admires about Mahomes is all the more interesting.

Tom Brady admires Patrick Mahomes' ability to have fun on the field

While appearing on The Pivot podcast, Brady was opining about the league's current crop of quarterbacks. He highlighted Mahomes -- as most football fans would -- as one of his favorite players to watch. But his reasoning behind that with the Chiefs signal-caller was refreshing to hear as he admitted to Mahomes having something that he eventually lost during his long playing career.

"When I see these young players, I see like Patrick (Mahomes) out there at quarterback, running around, laughing, having fun," Brady said. "I’m like, 'I used to be like that. What the hell happened?'"

Brady continued about the topic of having fun and enjoying oneself on the field but appeared to express some regret that he wouldn't have the chance to get a redo and approach his career with that mentality.

“I just got too serious, but, again, I can only look back and think, 'Okay, if I do it again, which I’ll never do again, I would be different.' But the reality is, you can’t."

For as undeniably great as Brady was in his career, it's impossible to deny that he was viewed throughout the league by many outside of New England and eventually in Tampa as a villain. His steely, strong-willed demeanor that he now seems to regret at least slightly came off as cold-blooded and, with the success that wrought, the reaction was often similar from fans and opponents.

Mahomes appears a bit different. Sure, fans of teams like the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders are going to have disdain for him as a division rival. But the majority of NFL fans beyond that aren't out here saying "Andy Reid is the real reason Mahomes is successful" or taking other shots at the Chiefs QB the way that they did Brady. And you have to wonder if his fun-loving, free-wheeling approach to football plays a large part in that general sentiment.

However, it's quite cool to see Brady recognize that and apparently recognize it as one of his own shortcomings from his career. Just another reason why Mahomes is the face of the NFL and, at least from all we see in the public eye and through Brady's eyes to some degree as well, he looks deserving of it too.