Steven Branscombe. Getty Images.

All the greats always had someone they looked up to and aspired to growing up. Having an idol isn’t a bad thing. It’s what pushed them to become the best in the world by infusing their game with the influences of the greats who came before them. Wayne Gretzky had Gordie Howe. Kobe Bryant had Michael Jordan. It’s not even limited to sports – musicians, artists, chefs. Everyone has idols whose influences are clearly visible in their own craft.

Dylan Raiola is one of the best true freshman quarterbacks in the country. If you want to be the best, it’s not a bad idea to model your game after the best. So it makes sense that this kid would want to copy literally everything Patrick Mahomes does. The look, the number, the pregame ritual.

No. The side-by-side is not “WILD”. It’s just a kid doing a really good Patrick Mahomes impression. Long sleeve on the right, short sleeve on the left, the only deduction I’m giving him here is that he had the towel on the wrong side.

Dylan Raiola, however, is now trying to claim that this is not an imitation. That he has inadvertently become a near-exact copy of Patrick Mahomes, purely by accident.

I mean… come on man. It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid to admit it. Saying you cut your hair when you were in 7th grade isn’t the best excuse for not trying to be a Mahomes clone, since that would have been in 2018. The year Mahomes won his first MVP. And again, it’s not a bad thing to want to copy your idol’s look when you’re a little kid. That’s normal as shit. What’s not normal is doing all that and then pretending it’s a coincidence.

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The only benefit of the doubt I’m going to give him here is that we’ve all had friends whose personality and appearance completely changes depending on who they spend the most time with. Maybe you have a buddy who went to college abroad and came back with an accent. Maybe you have a buddy who completely changed based on the girl he was dating at the time. It’s obvious to literally everyone that they’ve changed, they just don’t realize it after a while. So maybe we have a case of that here, but the poor kid would still benefit from having someone in their life to tell them to cut the crap and just admit it.

@JordieBarstool