Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was at the center of what appeared to be a deeply disturbing racial incident last week.
Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, a viral image showed a Kermit the Frog puppet dressed in Mahomes’ No. 15 Kansas City Chiefs jersey, styled with the quarterback’s signature hair, hanging from a rope outside the Buffalo Bills stadium.
The Kermit the Frog comparison originates from Mahomes’ unique voice, which has often been compared to the famous Muppet – something he has openly addressed on multiple occasions.
🚨🚨🚨THIS IS DISGUSTING🚨🚨🚨#Bills fans are HANGING a Kermit the Frog wearing a Pat Mahomes jersey in the streets of Buffalo.
This is unacceptable and sickening. pic.twitter.com/RXRZOsJddU
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) November 17, 2024
“I’ve gotten used to it, it’s like the joke that keeps giving,” he said during his press conference at the Super Bowl. “I’ve heard it all, jokes about Kermit the Frog or about smoking cigarettes.
“It’s unique, so maybe I’ll get a deal from having that unique voice.”
However, the comparison to Kermit was not the reason why this incident was so controversial.
The puppet’s suspension by a rope evoked stark imagery of the lynching of Black individuals in American history, and people understandably were not happy about it.
Unsurprisingly, this appalling act drew widespread backlash on social media with many fans labeling the incident as “disgusting.”
“Bills fans are the worst in the NFL! This is disgusting!” one fan wrote on X.
“That’s absolutely disgusting,” another person commented.
“This country is comfortable being openly racist lately,” a fan noted.
“This is the stuff that racist white people did when Obama was elected and then had the nerve to call him the most divisive president we’ve ever had,” another wrote.
“Lynching something that’s supposed to represent Patrick Mahomes is kinda crazy,” one person remarked.
“White conservatives in the replies saying this isn’t racist is insane,” someone else added.
A source close to the situation told The Daily Mail that the Mahomes family is seeking to uncover the identity of those responsible to determine whether there was any “sinister” intent.
“They would all like to find out who did this, and footage should reveal it. Not to press charges, per se, but just to know that it was nothing more sinister than a joking Bills fan,” the source told The Daily Mail.
We’ll have to see whether or not the perpetrators are ever revealed.
