Patrick Mahomes’ barber believes his scissors are the key to the Super Bowl

PHOENIX — Patrick Mahomes is only 27, and whether or not he wins his second Super Bowl championship, no one should dispute that he’s the heir apparent to Tom Brady’s throne.

The man who believes he holds the key to Mahomes finding a way to beat the Eagles would prefer Hair Apparent.

He is Mahomes’ hairstylist and will arrive at the team hotel on Friday to cut the hair of Mahomes and 21 of his Chiefs teammates.

When DeJuan Bonds was forced to miss Super Bowl LV, Mahomes lost to Brady and the Bucs.

“When we were in the last one, since we were at COVID, they had a barber setup set up for me at the Arrowhead facility, but I caught COVID so they couldn’t get my hair cut. “, Bonds told the Post.

“So Pat went to the broken Super Bowl – no haircut. That’s why we lost. Because he didn’t have a haircut.

Bonds put down his scissors when he sat in the stands at Hard Rock Stadium for Super Bowl LIV, when Mahomes beat the 49ers.

“It was just cool to know and see my haircut on TV, in the paper, that kind of thing,” Bonds said.

Bonds gave Mahomes haircuts on a weekly basis after Mahomes’ rookie season at Bonds’ Purple Label Barbershop in Overland Park, Kan.

“I think it started when he started,” Bonds said.

Mahomes’ latest haircut came the day before the Chiefs’ AFC Championship game victory over Joe Burrow and the Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium.

“He gets the modified Mahomes Mohawk,” Bonds said.

Bonds from 2009-19 was the team’s barber and gave weekly haircuts on Thursdays at a barber shop at the Chiefs facility. Former Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson helped him into the front door.

“He was my voice in 1999,” Bonds said. “He and I became friends, and he kind of introduced me to the front office people.”

For the past 14 years, Chiefs players have visited Bonds’ barber shop. Bonds first cut Mahomes’ hair during his rookie season OTAs.

“When a player moves to a new city, there are several things that worry them,” Bonds said. “And one of the things you worry about is your haircut. It was one of the topics discussed in the locker room – like who’s the hairdresser? He was taken to the barbershop through Travis Kelce.

Bonds, 48, grew up as a Chiefs fan, although when Mahomes was drafted the 10th pick in 2017, he didn’t know who he was because he doesn’t follow college football.

“The reason I don’t,” Bonds said, “is that my Saturday mornings for 25 years have been spent headlong, cutting out all day on a Saturday. I can only look up when there’s a big play because of the cheers, whether it’s on TV or in the barbershop.

He didn’t have a favorable impression of Mahomes’ hair the first time he was able to cut it.

“One thing I remember was anybody who cut their hair, I didn’t like it, I didn’t think it suited them, so I had to wait patiently,” Bonds said. “Like I couldn’t really do much because I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like, but that wasn’t the first time I met him, so I had him already said, I said, ‘Hey man, I’m only going to do it a little bit because I have to let your hair grow out in certain areas so that we can achieve the desired look that I think looks best on you, that matches the shape of your head and all.

Bonds would see Mahomes every other week during the 2017 season.

“It took almost six weeks to get it right,” Bonds said.

His first impression of Mahomes in the chair?

“He chatted with me and the other barbers and other customers who were in the barbershop,” Bonds said. “He was very open, wasn’t reserved or anything like that. But no one really knew who he was either. They were like, ‘Oh, okay, he’s a reserve quarterback.’ »

It’s different now. “We select times for the cuts for privacy,” Bonds said.

Now Mahomes is the Hair Apparent.

“He scrolls through social media,” Bonds said of Mahomes while in the chair, “and then often we have [the television] on ‘SportsCenter’, so we intervene on the events that take place in the ‘SportsCenter’ topics. Often it’s about him, so it’s fun to watch him look up and see what they say about him.

Chances are they’ll say glowing things about his improvisational magic, his golden arm, his will to win, from hell or a sprained ankle.

“You have to be ready,” Bonds said. “Everyone. Even me sitting at home watching as a fan, I have to be ready because I don’t know what to expect. I can’t even imagine what it would be like for the guys that are there. -down in the field who he’s throwing at. You gotta be ready. You don’t know when that handgun’s gonna come, you don’t know when that throw’s gonna come, that rescue throw, whatever you want to call it. you have to be ready, you have to be head down when you watch him because he is going to do something exciting.

Bonds began cutting the hair of his two siblings and cousins ​​at age 14 and graduated from Ea La Mars Cosmetology and Barber College in 1995. He first worked at Deb’s Images and opened Napps Barbershop in 1997 , then Purple Label in 2010.

“When I was young, we didn’t go to games, because it just wasn’t affordable and they weren’t good,” Bonds said. “And then when I became the team’s barber, I was at every home game for almost 10 years.”

He’ll be in his second Super Bowl to give Patrick Mahomes this game-changing Super Bowl haircut. When asked if it would be Friday or Saturday, Bonds replied, “Not sure… he wants to be as fresh as possible.”

Having scissors will travel.

Shaving Arizona.

“It doesn’t feel real,” Bonds said. “I mean, I know we have a great guy, but it doesn’t feel real, man. Three times in four years? It’s crazy!”

The Eagles should prepare for Hair Mahomes.