Randi Mahomes was just a small-town working mom before her son Patrick Mahomes became one of the greatest quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen — and adjusting to the glare of family fame has been the most difficult journey of her life.
At the end of June, the mom of three appeared on . During the candid chat, Randi admitted that, though she’s grateful Patrick, 28, is living his dream, there are downsides to being the mother of a three-time Super Bowl champion — including the way Patrick’s notoriety impacts her younger kids, 24-year-old son Jackson and 12-year-old daughter Mia.
“As much as I say that we’re blessed and Patrick’s living his dream, it has been the hardest seven years of my adult life,” Randi began. “I’ve cried a lot; I’ve struggled with it. … Just living on a daily, you know, we just wanna be normal and go and have dinner, and we don’t do that. Even my daughter and I, living in our [small] town, we rarely go out a whole lot,” she said of their own unexpected celebrity status by association with the Kansas City Chiefs player.
Even at her job as an event planner, Randi has had to find ways to cope with the attention she gets for being Patrick’s mom. “At work, it’s really hard because 90% of my phone calls are not about work,” she shared. “I still go to work and I still want to live normal, but it’s like a new normal I guess.”
Randi continued to explain that there’s a conflicting dichotomy between the blessings of her son’s incredible accomplishment and the little joys of a “normal” life. “I look at some of my friends on social media and in different things, and I’m jealous that they have this normal [life],” she confessed. “Their kids are the same age as Patrick and Jackson and they have this normal situation and we don’t. It’s super difficult.”
Randi again qualified that she’s grateful for Patrick’s career in the NFL, likely knowing people will criticize her for viewing the associated fame and fortune as difficult even though her experience is entirely valid. “I can say we’re blessed, and Patrick’s living out his dream and I want all of my kids to do that,” she said before adding, “But the attacks from different directions has been super overwhelming as a mother and as a friend of my kids, and just as a human.”
When asked how she copes with online hate and the downsides of fame in general, Randi credited prayer, true friends, and taking one day at a time. “I’ve kept my close friends close,” she said. “I’ve learned that some people I thought were friends … There’s been some that has been really hurtful, that they weren’t friends for the right reasons.”
Of fielding off people who want to use the family to get closer to Patrick, Randi said, “It’s a whole new learning thing, and I think I hate it the most … for my other two children. It’s a lot for them to have to take in.”
The mom of three spoke about the hate Patrick and his wife Brittany Mahomes receive on social media, and how it even trickles down to herself, Jackson, and Mia. “I’ve cried myself to sleep reading some of the things that I know that my kids see,” she admitted, adding that she’s blocked “thousands of people.”
Randi spoke about the perplexing nature of keyboard warriors and how she’s even confronted a few (she once attained legend status for clapping back at Tom Brady’s ex-wife Gisele Bündchen), saying they’re usually quick to backtrack and apologize for their hateful messages. She recalled, “After we won the Super Bowl a couple years ago … I would look and someone would give me so much hate, to me and to my children — all three of them — and I would look at their social media [profile] and I would be like, ‘This is a beautiful All-American family. Why would this mom or dad reach out to say this?'”
Jackson Mahomes shares a throwback photo for Mother's Day, echoing a similar family photo from years ago featuring his brother, NFL star Patrick Mahomes. https://t.co/RcQG9sdh8J
— SheKnows (@SheKnows) May 13, 2024
Randi continued, “There were a few times that I would reach back out and say, ‘Well, you have a beautiful family and I would never say anything ugly about your family, especially without knowing them.'” She added, “Most of the time — I didn’t do it very often — they would come back and say, ‘I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.'”
“They’re just looking at Patrick on this pedestal and just trying to tear everything else down,” the mom of three said. She added, “I don’t wish it on even my worst enemy. I don’t wish it on anyone because as a mother, you don’t want to read or see things about your children — especially when you know it’s not true.”
Randi shared that her priorities for her family in their “new” life are to maintain a strong, close-knit bond. To help her figure out how to do so, she even reached out to a celebrity mom — perhaps The Celebrity Mom of all famous mothers — for advice.
Get a sneak peek into the childhood bedroom of three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes. https://t.co/r78cGEbmtR
— SheKnows (@SheKnows) February 14, 2024
“At one point when I was in my darkest spot on how to navigate this new life … I was like, who could my kids relate to, who could I talk to, … and I reached out to Kris Jenner, and she called me,” Randi said. “I still value everything she shared with me … I was just like, I need someone that can help me navigate through this that my kids would be like, ‘You really did that?'”
The mom of three continued, “I reached out and she called me and helped me just to kind of like, ground everything. I was like, ‘Patrick has his way, Jackson’s looking for his way of doing something, and one day Mia will, and I don’t know navigate it. All of your kids are successful and you’re helping with that.'”
Speaking on the surrealism of going from a “normal” person to a celebrity mom who spoke with Kris Jenner, Randi said, “She gave me some really great advice, and I thought, ‘Wow… Did she just call ? Did she just call at work?'” She added, “I really thought that was amazing for her to take the time out of her day to just be a mom and talk to me.” From Randi Mahomes to Kris Jenner, sometimes celebrity moms really are just like us.