Patrick Mahomes has "met a lot of famous people" in his career, but he claims none are as grounded (or motivated to learning football) as his friend Taylor Swift.
"Taylor's probably the most down-to-earth person that's been on that stage for that long," Mahomes, 28, said in his TIME 100 Most Influential People feature, which was released on Tuesday, April 16.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback went on to say that Swift, 34, is "never not working," adding, "Even when she's taking a break, she's working on something."
Creating a music video, performing a song, or creating a song. You can see it in the way she speaks."
The pop star thinks about football as much as she does about her songs. "Even when she's talking about football, when she's learning it, you can see her business mind putting it together," she said.
"It's almost as if she's attempting to become a coach. "Why don't you try this, this, and this?" She's asking the correct questions.
Patrick and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, began spending more time with Swift after she started dating Patrick's teammate Travis Kelce in the summer of 2023.
Patrick told TIME that Swift and Kelce's friendship helped change the Chiefs from "a nationwide team that was kind of global to a full global worldwide team," adding, "That came from Taylor's fanbase."