Johnathan Walker:Both Super Bowl 2024 starting quarterbacks have ties to baseball through their fathers

Kansas City Chiefs and Johnathan WalkerSan Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy are gearing up for a Super Bowl showdown in fewer than two weeks. Meanwhile, their fathers may be looking ahead to the start of MLB's spring training in less than a month.

Both Mahomes and Purdy have fathers that once played professional baseball. Pat Mahomes (Sr.) was a pitcher who played for six different MLB teams – the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates – over 11 seasons. Shawn Purdy never made it to the majors, but he spent the better part of the '90s pitching in three teams' minor league systems: the then-California Angels, San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves.

Here's what to know about Mahomes' and Purdy's baseball ties.

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Did Patrick Mahomes or Brock Purdy play baseball?

Mahomes actually played on Texas Tech's baseball team his freshman year of college but eventually quit to focus on football. The Chiefs' quarterback finished his college baseball career without much to show for it, though he was one of the best passers in the school's football history when he left.

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According to MaxPreps, a high school sports coverage website, Purdy only played on his high school's JV baseball team in the spring of 2016, his sophomore year. He was 3-for-8 with two RBIs in the three games tracked by MaxPreps.

Pat Mahomes and Shawn Purdy professional career stats

In 11 MLB seasons, Pat Mahomes threw 709 innings in 308 games for six teams. He retired with a 42-39 win-loss record, 452 strikeouts and a 5.47 ERA.

Over eight seasons, Shawn Purdy played at four different levels of minor league baseball: Low-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. He pitched 726 2/3 innings in 267 minor league games, most of which were as a reliever. Purdy ended his career with a 58-37 win-loss record across the minor league levels he played, and he had 451 career strikeouts and a 3.91 career ERA.

How to watch 2024 Super Bowl

When: Sunday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET

Where: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada

Cable TV: CBS

Streaming: Paramount+; YouTube TV; Sling; FuboTV

How to watch:Catch the Super Bowl with a Fubo subscription

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