Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the target of what appeared to be a disgusting racial incident over the weekend
On Sunday, an image went viral showing a Kermit the Frog puppet wearing Mahomes’ No. 15 Kansas City Chiefs jersey, styled with the star quarterback’s hair, and hanging from a rope outside the Buffalo Bills stadium.
The Kermit the Frog reference stems from Patrick Mahomes’ distinctive voice which has often been compared to iconic Muppet, a comparison he has addressed multiple times.
🚨🚨🚨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 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.”
This time, however, the outrage wasn’t about the comparison to Kermit but rather the matter in which the puppet was displayed.
The puppet hanging from a rope in this way was evoked imagery of the lynching of Black people in American history.
Needless to say, this disgusting news led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“Bills fans are the worst in the NFL! This is disgusting!” one fan wrote on X.
“That’s absolutely disgusting,” another person added.
“This country is comfortable being openly racist lately,” another fan wrote.
“This the stuff that racist white people did when Obama was elected and had the absolute nerve to call him the most divisive president we’ve ever had,” someone else wrote.
“Lynching something that’s supposed to represent Patrick Mahomes is kinda crazy,” another person noted.
“White conservatives in the replies saying this isn’t racist is insane,” another person added.
A source close to the situation told The Daily Mail that the Mahomes family is seeking answers regarding who is responsible to determine whether or not there was a “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.
Clearly, this is unacceptable.