Patrick Mahomes has millions of fans across the world but perhaps none more famous than Julia Roberts.
The Academy Award-winning actress recently revealed she feels a ‘kinship’ with the two-time Super Bowl winner after watching him in action in the Netflix documentary series Quarterback.
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“It has changed my life, I think,” Roberts said of the series during an interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.
“The quarterback, you think like, ‘Oh, he shows up and throws the ball around.’ I mean, that’s what I thought. That’s wrong,” she said.
“I’m a big football fan, but this has given me an insight. Like, I have so much respect right now for Patrick Mahomes, I don’t know what to do with it. There’s really not a place for me to put it on a daily basis.
“I kind of felt like I understand you, Patrick Mahomes,” the 56-year-old went on.
“I feel like my homework when I’m working never ends. There’s always some other elements, some other thing to learn, to figure out, to get ready for, you know, whatever it is.”
Roberts’ favourite NFL team is the San Francisco 49ers but she said the Chiefs are ‘right behind’ them.
The Chiefs beat Roberts’ 49ers in Super Bowl 54 in 2019 when Mahomes was awarded the first of his Super Bowl MVPs in the 31-20 victory.
The first season of Quarterback premiered in July on the streaming service and followed Mahomes, Vikings’ Kirk Cousins and Eagles signal caller Marcus Mariota during their 2022 campaigns.
A second series is set to air later this year.
However, the Pretty Woman star’s love of sport reaches far beyond the NFL.
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Roberts, who grew up in Smyrna, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, is also a huge fan of Premier League side Manchester United, telling UK chat show host Graham Norton that her family has become ‘possessed’ by the Red Devils in recent years.
During an appearance on Norton’s show, she said, “I’ve been to Old Trafford, I’m a true fan.
“I have three children and when they were really little and started playing soccer they started watching it on TV.
“I didn’t ever realise how exciting it was to watch it on television. We just got so into it and somehow Manchester United just became our team.
“We became sort of possessed.”
Roberts was even spotted with the team on their pre-season tour of America, stopping for pictures with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and manager Erik ten Hag.
Her fandom turned out to be a bitter blow to United rival Pep Guardiola.
The Manchester City boss previously revealed Roberts was one of his three idols, along with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
The five-time Premier League winner later lamented the fact she had visited Old Trafford, and not the Etihad, on her previous visit to the UK.
“She went to visit Man United. She didn’t come to see us,” the City boss said.
“That’s why even if I win the Champions League it will not compare for the fact that Julia Roberts came to Manchester and didn’t come to see us.
“Even if I win the Champions League it will not compare to this disappointment I had.”
