The world continues to be fixated on the Kansas City Chiefs — particularly on the players’ personal lives.
Speaking as the team began its preparations for Monday’s Super Bowl LVII rematch agains the Philadelphia Eagles, quarterback Patrick Mahomes — who is used to being in the spotlight — said that in comparison to tight end, pop-star boyfriend and podcast impressario Travis Kelce, his own life is pretty chill.
“Oh, it’s calmer than Travis’, I’ll say that,” he revealed to reporters. “I’ll keep just playing football and having fun doing it.”
Kelce’s weekly “New Heights” podcast (with his brother Jason, who is a center for the Eagles) continues to be among America’s most popular — so much so that some wonder if it has become a distraction. But Kansas City head coach Andy Reid doesn’t think so.
“To have the guys still playing and doing it — and still maintaining the support of their teams doing it — that means that they’re handling it the right way,” noted Reid on Thursday. “They’re not putting coaches or players at risk.”
But it’s not as if Mahomes’ personal life hasn’t recently been in the news. On Monday, the quarterback was a guest on ESPN’s “ManningCast” with another set of NFL brothers: Peyton and Eli Manning. During the show, he impressed the hosts with his ability to predict play-calls in the game between the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills. But it wasn’t Mahomes’ foresight that has consumed the Internet this week. Instead, it was his… underwear.
It started when former Kansas City backup quarterback Chad Henne innocuously shared a Mahomes superstition: then reigning MVP wears the same pair of red underwear for every game. The Mannings asked Mahomes about it during Monday’s broadcast.
“Chad actually said something about it right before he retired,” explained Mahomes on Thursday, “and it kind of went under the radar. I was like, ‘Thank goodness, man! No one picked that up.’ Then of course, I think it was Eli had to say it on the broadcast — and I was like, ‘Now it’s gonna be a thing.’”
Mahomes said he’s had the underwear — a gift from his wife — since 2018.
“Brittany kind of got them before one of my first starts,” he recalled, “and I wore [them for] that Chargers game.”
In that first start, Mahomes passed for 256 yards and four touchdowns in the Chiefs’ 38-28 victory — so it’s not surprising he would want to keep the mojo going. But he’s not crazy; the special underwear does get washed.
“I don’t wear them in the games,” he clarified. “I just wear them to the games — so they’re not that bad.”
“Hopefully, we keep winning games — and I can wear them for 20-plus years.”
