Patrick Mahomes Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With their dominance in recent years, the Kansas City Chiefs have emerged as a sort of villain in the NFL with fans from other fanbases gleefully rooting against them. While Travis Kelce might embrace that role, it doesn’t sound like Patrick Mahomes is willing to go that far.

During a recent episode of his “New Heights” podcast, Travis Kelce made it clear that he embraced being a “villain.”

“I’m enjoying doing this with the guys together, the guys that we have in there because it’s like it just makes us even more of a family,” Kelce said last month.

“You just circle the wagons when you know people are saying whatever they want. And you just band it together, and it just makes you appreciate more of what you have because people want what you have.”

Patrick Mahomes, however, sees things a little differently.

During a press conference leading up to the Super Bowl, Mahomes downplayed the idea that the Chiefs were villains, saying that he thinks the Chiefs “play the game the right way.”

“I don’t even think it’s embracing being the villains,” Mahomes said according to Pro Football Talk. “We embrace who we are, and we believe we play the game the right way. We believe that we play with a lot of heart and a lot of passion for the game and then we win football games. If winning football games makes you a villain, we’re gonna keep going out there and doing it.”

Villains or not, the Chiefs have a chance to make history this week as they could become the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl three consecutive times.