The world watched as Rihanna performed at the halftime of Super Bowl LVII.
Well, except for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” following his day with his wife and kids at Disneyland, Patrick Mahomes was asked by the late-night host if he watched the Grammy-award-winning artist’s performance. At the same time, he rehabbed his injured ankle during halftime.
“I didn’t, but I heard it was great,” said Mahomes of Rihanna’s performance. “Coach (Andy) Reid told us, he said, ‘If you go watch the performance, just keep walking because you aren’t playing the rest of the game.”
Story: #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes revealed that Andy Reid threatened to bench any KC player who left the locker room to watch the Rihanna's halftime show 😲 pic.twitter.com/uiQ7GnGWex
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 14, 2023
The Chiefs headed into the locker room at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, down 24-14. While they seemingly missed a great show, whatever Reid, the coaches and the players said at halftime worked. The Chiefs scored every time they possessed the ball in the second half, en route to a come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s not normal for any of the players to watch the halftime show generally, but it became a hot topic of discussion after Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson infamously snuck out to watch the performance during last year’s Super Bowl. The Bengals would go on to lose 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams, but McPherson did successfully make the only kick he attempted in the second half.
Some are wondering why a player would even do that.#Bengals Evan McPherson infamously left the locker room last year to watch the halftime show. pic.twitter.com/N4eH8JG8xw
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 14, 2023
Regardless, Reid didn’t want to take any chances, nor did he want his players to be distracted. He was proven right by the 38-35 victory.