No, Patrick Mahomes is not refusing to play for the Chiefs until they change their name
Chiefs and NFL fans are getting duped by a fake Twitter account
Patrick Mahomes has been very outspoken about social issues recently which seems to have opened the door for some Twitter pranksters to pull one over on unsuspecting fans.
A Twitter account impersonating the official ESPN Sports Center account tricked NFL and Chiefs fans this weekend, claiming that Adam Schefter reported that the Super Bowl MVP has stated he won’t play for the team until it changes its “racist name.”
Did Patrick Mahomes really say he wouldn’t play for the Chiefs again unless the team changes its name?
It takes only the slightest amount of digging to realize the tweet is fake. The account is not verified and the actual handle is “@SprotsCenler.” The real Sports Center account is “@SportsCenter.”
Twitter moves fast and so much news breaks on the platform that often times people are quick to retweet actual “fake news” before they realized they have been duped. In this case, as of this writing, the fake Mahomes tweet has been retweeted 1.4k times. The reactions in the comments range from fans commending Mahomes, anger over the decision he definitely did not make and people trolling both of those camps for getting tricked.
Thank you @PatrickMahomes ❤️
— Jacob Sappington 📬 (@jsappington) June 27, 2020
Social justice scene.
— 🦅Mark Hartig🇺🇸 (@markhartig) June 27, 2020
Hope he enjoys the bench. I live on an Indian reservation and they are fine with the name. The town I live next they’re team name is the Indians and they argued to save the name because of outsiders saying it was offensive
— All 2 Ez (@NickwallMafia) June 27, 2020
The timing of this charade makes sense. The real Patrick Mahomes has been speaking out in support of the Black Lives Matter movent and has joined his Chiefs teammates in registering people to vote in Missouri in an effort create lasting change.
He is not, however, campaigning for the Chiefs to change their name. Though, at this point, Mahomes is so popular in Kansas City the team may want to consider renaming the team after him.