Mahomes signs historic deal with Oakley

By ALEXA ECKEMBRECHER

It won’t be long until everyone in Kansas City will be sporting Oakley sunglasses.

Last Wednesday, Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes II signed an endorsement deal with Oakley making him the first professional football player to ever do so. Other athletes to be partnered with Oakley include skiiers Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn and snowboarder Chloe Kim.

Prior to signing the deal, the NFL MVP visited the Oakley headquarters in Southern California where he learned more about the optic technology and was dazzled with what he saw. He is currently the face of the sports performance brand’s Prizm optics line.

“I love the Prizm technology. It enhances the lights and colors you see when you wear the sunglasses, which can be super-effective for me,” said Mahomes. “You want to make sure you’re wearing the right type of glasses that will enhance the right colors when you’re going out to practice or working out or on the field playing.

“With this partnership, I can show what Oakley can do on and off the football field, and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mahomes told Yahoo Lifestyle. “We both strive to be the best in our aspects.”

Likewise, the brand compared their mission with the 23-year-old’s vision.

“[Patrick Mahomes II] is always striving to be better on the field — his DNA fits with our DNA, which is all about being focused on performance.” said Gwen van Lingen, Oakley Senior Vice President of Marketing. “[Oakley] has always said if it’s not good enough for the world’s best athletes, it’s [simply] not good enough.”

However, this is not the only brand with which the Kansas City Star has recently partnered. The more notable companies have been Hunt’s Ketchup and Pizza Hut.

Coming off a great season and then being named MVP of the year, Mahomes is definitely having an equally great off-season. I think this is notable, and should be covered more, because this was his first season starting in the NFL after being drafted in 2017 from Texas Tech University.