Patrick Mahomes couldn’t assist himself.
A pair hours after main the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs to an AFC championship victory over the Buffalo Payments — a triumph that clinched the crew’s third consecutive journey to the Tremendous Bowl and the fifth within the final six seasons — Mahomes pulled out his cellphone, fired up the great ol’ Twitter/X app, loaded the long-lasting Kermit sipping tea meme and despatched out the message: “I’ll see y’all in New Orleans! #ChiefsKingdom.”
https://t.co/l8yksh2rWx pic.twitter.com/rgh5x6aSUs
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) January 27, 2025
It was a slick clapback. Kermit jokes are nothing new for Mahomes, who has lengthy been ribbed for the way in which his distinctive voice reminds lots of the Muppets star. Throughout coaching camp, members of the Las Vegas Raiders mocked their divisional rival with a Kermit puppet sporting a curly wig and crimson No. 15 jersey. Mahomes bought the final snicker within the type of a regular-season sweep. Forward of the Chiefs’ regular-season highway sport towards the Payments in November, some followers discovered humor in hanging a Kermit the Frog doll in an identical wig-and-jersey getup excessive above a road outdoors Highmark Stadium (the racist overtones many noticed within the picture are doubtless the explanation it caught in Mahomes’ thoughts).
Buffalo gained that common season sport. Nevertheless, Mahomes once more laughed final, within the sport that basically mattered. He ripped out the hearts of the Payments and their followers with considered one of his most dominant performances of the season, ending Buffalo’s Tremendous Bowl hopes for the fourth time within the final 5 years.
Mahomes’ meme deployment represented each a good-natured rubbing of salt within the Payments’ wounds, and a wink directed on the rising variety of soccer followers who would like to see anybody however Mahomes and the Chiefs hoist one more Lombardi Trophy.
The Chiefs have formally taken over as soccer’s Evil Empire. They changed the New England Patriots, who underneath the path of Invoice Belichick and Tom Brady dominated the NFL for the higher a part of twenty years. The Patriots gained six Tremendous Bowls whereas showing in 9 from 2002-19. One season after dropping to those self same Patriots within the 2018 AFC Championship, Mahomes and the Chiefs gained their first Tremendous Bowl. Three years later, they gained one other, after which one other, the primary back-to-back champs since New England (in 2004 and ’05). And now they’re again within the Tremendous Bowl once more, going for an unprecedented three-peat.
It’s exceptional that courting again to Tremendous Bowl XXXVI, performed in February 2002, 14 of the final 24 Tremendous Bowls have featured both the Patriots or the Chiefs, with New England successful six out of their 9 appearances and the Chiefs successful three of 4 (with the end result of the fifth to be decided). The dominance, nonetheless, has triggered the Chiefs to — within the eyes of some followers — morph from fresh-faced underdogs into reviled energy gamers whose prospect of continued success provokes emotions of nausea.
Is it logical? No.
Shocking? Not totally.
However there’s a mindbending facet to the velocity at which some followers have turned on the Chiefs.
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Just some quick years in the past, the Chiefs have been seen as the proper antidote to a long time of Patriots fatigue. They have been every thing New England was not.
Invoice Belichick was the surly, personality-devoid chief of a franchise that required inflexible adherence to the Patriot Approach. Chiefs coach Andy Reid is the endearing, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing grandfatherly determine encouraging individuality whereas allowing his gamers to paint outdoors of the traces.
Non-Pats followers seen Brady as conceited, overly polished, calculated, demanding and robotic. Mahomes was unassuming, with a knack for making Houdini-esque escapes underneath strain and delivering throws to any spot on the sector — from each conceivable arm slot. In the meantime, sidekick Travis Kelce was the fun-loving freelancer drawing as a lot reward for his colourful persona as he did his confounding route-running and clutch catches.
The Patriots’ critics branded them as cheaters due to the sign-stealing scandal and the Brady-related “Deflategate.” The Chiefs maintained a healthful really feel whereas constructing their dynasty by means of homegrown expertise, sensible monetary strikes and continuity each on the core of their roster and on their teaching workers.
Kansas Metropolis appeared to have the entire nation behind them six years in the past as they fell quick towards New England in that 37-31 extra time loss at Arrowhead Stadium, which preceded the ultimate Lombardi trophy of the Patriots dynasty. And the Chiefs’ reputation solely additional skyrocketed the next season as Mahomes and Co. pulled off a comeback victory over San Francisco for the franchise’s first Tremendous Bowl for the reason that 1969 season.
Mahomes’ jersey grew to become the NFL’s main vendor and his crew took on a brand new crop of bandwagon followers. Kansas Metropolis and their quarterback and coach remained a marvel three seasons later as they rebounded from a Tremendous Bowl loss to Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs to win a second Tremendous Bowl a 12 months later.
However someplace between that second and third Tremendous Bowl marketing campaign, the emotions directed at Kansas Metropolis began to modify from fascination and fondness to fatigue and loathing. The distaste for the Chiefs has solely elevated this season.
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However why?
Is it envy over the way in which Mahomes all the time finds a approach to get it carried out, successful 17 straight video games determined by one rating?
Is it the lower of offensive fireworks because the Chiefs have reinvented themselves from a high-scoring machine to a defensive juggernaut, with Mahomes seemingly saving his difference-making performs for the closing minutes of video games?
Is the off-the-field stuff, like the ever present Reid-Mahomes commercials, or the fixed protection of Kelce’s relationship with pop icon Taylor Swift?
All the above? Most likely.
Regardless, for a lot of the fad has turn out to be blinding. That’s mirrored within the silly-yet-increasingly standard faculty of thought that the Chiefs now obtain preferential remedy from officers, a part of a mandate from the NFL to make sure Kansas Metropolis wins one other Tremendous Bowl. Those that subscribe to this perception view each questionable penalty flagged towards Kansas Metropolis’s opponents (a late hit as Mahomes slips out of bounds, a roughing the passer name as a foe grazes his helmet, a pass-interference flag to increase a drive) as proof that the repair is in. They accomplish that whereas, extremely, ignoring all the calls that officers botch in non-Chiefs video games.
These followers additionally by no means cease to contemplate a few different information that might discredit their stance.
Younger or poorly-constructed groups sometimes wilt in probably the most pressure-packed moments and have a tendency to harm themselves by committing ill-timed transgressions. High quality groups and coaches execute at their greatest within the face of strain. So it ought to come as no shock that the Chiefs — a franchise that, like New England throughout its reign, is as well-constructed and battle-tested as any within the league — don’t burn themselves at crucial junctures. There’s nothing fluky in regards to the bulk of these 17 one-score wins.
The NFL goes to nice lengths to make sure parity — income sharing, wage cap, free company, the draft course of — as a result of league officers know that aggressive stability and an ever-changing slate of contenders and champions is nice for enterprise. It will make no sense to repair video games for a small-market crew just like the Chiefs. If something, the league would need to see the Jets and Giants, Bears and Cowboys emerge as juggernauts fairly than trainwrecks.
The haters appear to permit a mix of jealousy, boredom and obsession for the subsequent large factor to cloud their crucial considering expertise. And so, they parse by means of each play and each name seeking detracting components. It’s the standard response of bitter followers of the hunters, directed on the hunted. Simply ask the Patriots, Yankees, Dodgers, Lakers, Bulls, Golden State Warriors or some other dynasty.
If it’s not our crew, we tire shortly of dominance. And fairly than enable ourselves to understand historic feats, we distract ourselves with belly-aching, eye-rolling and teeth-gnashing over these unstoppable opponents.
In Mahomes, the NFL has a famous person piling up accomplishments at a charge that not even Brady proved able to. In the meantime, Reid continues to show himself as one of the artistic masterminds in NFL historical past. How may you not respect such uncommon ranges of greatness?
The Chiefs make no apologies for his or her excellence. By now, they’re a well-oiled machine powered by sensible expertise evaluators, artistic coaches and particular gamers prepared to sacrifice to make sure that they’ve the very best likelihood of extending what seems to be like one other historic window of competition.
They’re additionally not bristling in any respect the hate. As a substitute, Mahomes and his teammates discover it amusing. They embrace the function of the villain and proceed their pursuit of historical past, which — sorry to interrupt it to you — given the truth that Mahomes hasn’t even turned 30, may prolong for much longer.
Hate on.
(Picture: Fernando Leon / Getty Photographs)