Travis Kelce spent the Kansas City Chiefs' bye week carousing through South America with Taylor Swift. Patrick Mahomes spent the free time talking about his underpants.
The two-time NFL MVP, 28, has confirmed that he has worn the same pair of underwear each game since he joined the Chiefs.
“First, my wife Brittany got them for me, so I’m not throwing y’all down, but I have to wear them,” Mahomes told Peyton and Eli Manning during the “ManningCast” broadcast of “Monday Night Football” when the Buffalo Bills hosted the Denver Broncos on Nov. 13.
“At the same time, I threw them on that first season. We had a pretty good season that season. I only wear them for game day though, so they’re not too worn down. They’re not like these nasty — I clean them.”
The Chiefs, who did not play this past week after they beat the Miami Dolphins the previous week in a game played in Frankfurt, Germany, selected Mahomes with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, so, yeah, you may think his tighty whities are more tighty off-whities at this point, given his admission. Mahomes, though, says he takes care of the undergarments, unless the team is winning.
“I wash them, every once in a while at least,” he said. “I mean, if we’re on a hot streak, I can’t wash them, you know? I’ve just got to keep it rolling. As long as I’m winning football games, I’ll keep the superstition going.”
Mahomes and the Chiefs have done plenty of winning during his tenure, claiming a pair of Super Bowls and losing in another appearance.
Mahomes’ underwear superstition came to light when his former backup quarterback, Chad Henne, who retired after last season, said he wears the same pair of red underwear each game.
“This has to be a superstition and a good luck charm, for sure,” he said in February on “The Adam Schefter Podcast.”
Whatever he’s wearing continues to work. The Chiefs sit atop the AFC West with a 7-2 record. If the season ended today, they would be the top seed in the AFC playoffs, as they seek to become the first team since the New England Patriots in 2005 to win back-to-back Super Bowls.