Chiefs fans show gratitude to Alex Smith after seeing Ryan Tannehill’s mentor comment

Comments made Tuesday by the Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Tannehill resulted in former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith’s name trending on Twitter.

The Titans used one of their third-round picks in last week’s draft on Liberty quarterback Malik Willis, and Tannehill told reporters he doesn’t feel an obligation to take his new teammate under his wing.

“The team is going to do ... things they think is in the best interest of the team. I have no problems with Malik,” Tannehill said of Willis. “We are looking to add talent and guys that can help us. We’ll add him to the room and go from there.”

Tannehill added: “I don’t think it’s my job to mentor him, but if he learns from me along the way, then that’s a great thing.”

For Chiefs fans, those comments evoked memories of Alex Smith, who did the opposite of what Tannehill mentioned. Smith made a point of working with Patrick Mahomes after he was drafted in 2017 even though it meant Smith would lose his job.

Mahomes started just one game his rookie season and spent much of the season soaking in all he could from Smith.

“He had a process of how he did things, how he made sure he was prepared for every situation in the game as well as every practice,” Mahomes said of Smith before the 2018 season. “For me, being able to watch that and understand what’s needed in order to have success in the NFL is probably the biggest thing he did for me.”

Mahomes won the NFL MVP award that first year as a starter and has been one of the NFL’s best players ever since.

Chiefs fans once again shared their gratitude that Smith took time to work with Mahomes after seeing what Tannehill had said.