Athletes are known for having game-day rituals, and Patrick Mahomes has just confessed to one of the great sports-related superstitions of all time: The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback wears the same pair of underwear to every game.
The rumor first came to light earlier this year when Chad Henne, former backup QB for the Chiefs, said that Mahomes always wears the same red underwear on game day.
In a Monday Night Football interview with the Manning brothers, Mahomes finally confirmed his skivvies superstition. At first, he says, they had sentimental value as they came from his wife. But then as he and his team played well, he thought the underwear might be lucky.
“First, my wife Brittany got them for me. So I’m not throwing y’all down, but I have to wear them,” he said. “At the same time, I threw them on that first season, we had a pretty good season that season.”
MORE: Meet the trainer behind Patrick Mahomes’ fast recovery from ankle injury
He only wears them on game day, he said. And you might think, oh that isn’t too strange. After all, he probably washes them after each game, right?
Well…
“You wash them?” Eli Manning asked.
“I wash them, every once in a while at least. I mean if we’re on a hot streak, I can’t wash them, you know? I’ve just got to keep it rolling,” Mahomes confessed. “As long as we’re winning football games, I’ll keep the superstition going.”
Watch Mahomes come clean about staying dirty on YouTube here.
Over the years, professional athletes have confessed to many weird game-day superstitions. Tennis legend Serena Williams reportedly used to wear the same pair of socks to every game, and like Mahomes, she wouldn’t wash them if she was winning. Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher had a sweeter tradition: He always had to eat two cookies before the game, preferably chocolate chip.
That is certainly a more palatable game-day snack than what Louisiana State University coach Les Miles used to do before each game. The infamous football coach would eat turf from the football field. It happened so often that sports cams would catch him in the act!
No word on what fellow Chiefs player Travis Kelce does to prep for game day, but let’s hope it involves blasting “Midnights” or drawing a 13 on his body.
> > SIGN UP for the Simplemost weekly newsletter
Patrick Mahomes says he wears the same underwear for every Chiefs game originally appeared on Simplemost.
Any products or services mentioned above were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, Simplemost may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website.
