Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
A video and picture showing part of Patrick Mahomes’ helmet cracking and detaching went viral during the Kansas City Chiefs’ 26-7 win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night.
On Tuesday, VICIS, which makes the ZERO2 helmet Mahomes was wearing at the time, released a statement regarding the incident, saying the product still did its job despite cracking in the cold conditions:
The weather during the game at Arrowhead Stadium was frigid, with temperatures at kickoff of -4 degrees Fahrenheit and a ridiculous wind chill of -20 degrees.
It was cold enough to completely freeze over Andy Reid’s mustache:
Mahomes, shockingly, didn’t initially leave the game after his helmet cracked and played two more downs with it on before officials made him switch.
“I didn’t know what happened in the moment, but I got in the huddle and everybody was telling me,” he told reporters. “And I was like, ‘I got y’all, but I’m not coming out (of) the game.’ … It was a first for me.”
He then had issues with his backup helmet.
“We gotta talk about where we store the backup helmet because it was frozen,” Mahomes said. “When I tried to put it on, it was completely frozen. I couldn’t get it on. I don’t know if anyone got a picture of it. It didn’t look great. But we were able to adjust it on the sideline and get it warmed up a little bit and get rolling from there.”
Mahomes may face frigid conditions again this weekend, with a road trip to Buffalo to face the Bills in the AFC Divisional Round.