Why People Hate the Kansas City Chiefs So Much

NFL Fans had a comfortable villain to hate already

The hate for the Kansas City Chiefs should come as no surprise to avid NFL fans. When Tom Brady left the Patriots in 2020, he created a void in the NFL. Football fans love their team, but they also need someone to hate. New England had been the evil empire that all of America wanted to see lose (minus the patrons of bars in South Boston and the rest of New England). SpyGate, DeflateGate, deception, and, honestly, just the fact that they kept on winning made people want to see their dynasty end.

We needed a hero to fight this villain that had a stronghold on the NFL playoffs and Super Bowls. Fans became tired of seeing Bill Belichick in tattered sweatshirts hoisting trophies next to Tom Brady. Who somehow still had perfectly coiffed hair after having just played 60 minutes of football wearing a helmet?

Kansas City was hard to Hate at First

Waiting in the wings for this opportunity: the Kansas City Chiefs. A team run by the human Lorax Andy Reid, a man who was hard to dislike. With him was Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, the Luke Skywalker to Tom Brady’s Darth Vader. Their offense was incredible, and, like the Patriots, they kept winning. Even though they never really took down the Patriots themselves, they just sort of surpassed them as age and time ended that dynasty. Didn’t matter. People were glad to see someone else become dominant in the NFL outside of the Northeast region of the country.

Mahomes and the Chiefs were the new faces of the NFL. But as a smart man with half a face once said, “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Surely nobody knew we would live in a time where Kansas City Chiefs hate was so rampant.

Kansas City Chiefs Hate is now at an All-Time High

Flash forward to the year 2024, Tom Brady is no longer in the league, and Belichick is out in New England. People find themselves tired of the new dynasty in the NFL hailing from Kansas City. A team that people who weren’t even fans of once cheered for just because they were fun is now the enemy. A large portion of NFL fans are tired of their winning ways and antics both on and off the field. Kansas City Chiefs hate is at an all-time high as they have become the new Evil Empire of the league. Unfortunately, they have nobody to blame but themselves. While it may seem to have come out of nowhere, there have been a few factors over time that have led to this shift in public opinion.

Patrick Mahomes Brings a lot of Things to Hate

At first, it was tough to dislike Patrick Mahomes. People weren’t just busy loathing Belichick. They were also collectively rooting for Andy Reid to finally get some deserved playoff success. As Eagles HC, he had a lot of success in the regular season. He never had much playoff success though, with one SB appearance. When he took over the Chiefs, he began a franchise turnaround that desperately needed it.

At first, under Reid, they had some playoff success, yet they seemed forever to be stalled at early-round exits. Along comes Mahomes, an immediate MVP-caliber (and winning) player with a cannon arm and pinpoint accuracy. Suddenly, the Chiefs were legitimate contenders. When they won their first Super Bowl against the 49ers in 2019, pretty much every NFL fan cheered them on. Outside of California and New England, of course. We were happy for that cheeseburger-chomping head coach with a mustache that rivaled Kurt Russell’s in Tombstone.

As time went on the luster of Andy Reid’s success began to wear off. However, people still like him so it’s easier to direct our hate to his Kermit the frog-sounding quarterback. The guy currently taking over our televisions every commercial break. Selling things from insurance to shampoo, water to sportswear, and probably at some point a renamed George Foreman grill.

Sure, it’s smart to make money hocking whatever you can now while people are willing to pay you to. Obviously if you can add your name to the list of Subway spokesmen you do it, knowing how prestigious that list is.

Mahomes taking up the airwaves isn’t a major reason for the team’s current public opinion. He deals with two people who have helped to push his image into one we can easily dislike. He’s a victim of simply being guilty by association.

Brittany Mahomes has been the subject of NFL fans’ hatred for a long time

Behind every great man is an even greater woman, they say. Whoever “they” are did not have Patrick Mahomes in mind when coming up with that line. His wife Brittany Mahomes has been no stranger to controversy. She behaves like an entitled queen who contributes absolutely nothing of sustenance to the world. Brittany uses social media as a means to showcase her terrible decorum and poor sportsmanship whenever she can. Then uses it to excuse her behaviors.

She has more than once called out the NFL refs for what she deemed were bad calls against the Chiefs. Someone calling the refs out for any supposed bias *against* the Kansas City Chiefs is about as tone-deaf as one can be.

She also commonly uses her accounts to brag about the Chiefs winning. While doing so, she speaks as if she had contributed to their success on the field in some way. I understand fans referring to teams as “we”, I do it all the time. It’s the self-indulgence and narcissism in her tweets that draws constant ire, not just referring to the team as “we”. Her constant bragging or smug taunts to fans have created this perception of her. Rather than try to atone for it, she constantly digs her heels in and further pushes it in our faces. She’s saying “I’m better than you because my husband is better than you.”

Hell, she caught flack not too long ago for showering fans with champagne from her private suite. Rather than apologize for this “Let them eat cake” moment of hers, she chose to play the victim. Brittany said, “I just wish I could do what I want without getting attacked every week.” AKA, if I want to treat people like peasants, then I should be allowed to. Brittany has been one of the leading causes of Kansas City Chiefs hate for a while now.

Jackson Mahomes hate has been ongoing in (and out of) Kansas City

While Patrick may have chosen to marry Brittany, he had no choice but to deal with Jackson as his brother. Jackson Mahomes, first off, has an extremely punchable-looking face, which I guess isn’t his fault. However, the fact that he continues to engage in actions and behaviors that warrant that punchability is solely on him. Like his sister-in-law, Jackson has used social media to propel his infamy that wouldn’t exist if not for his ability to masterfully ride his brothers’ coattails. This all started with him being a self-proclaimed “TikTok influencer” who likes to blow kisses at the camera and dance. Not sure what he’s trying to influence others to do, but then again not much about TikTok makes sense to me.

He’s been caught doing his little duck faces to his camera in the background of Patrick being interviewed (after winning the Super Bowl, no less) and in another incident even thought it would be appropriate to do one of his fancy boy dances on a memorial logo for the late Sean Taylor when the Chiefs were playing Washington in 2021.

His similarity to Brittany goes further than abusing social media to try to stay relevant. He also shares a similar incident with her where he chose to pour water on Ravens fans while in Baltimore. Just like Brittany, he chose not to apologize for this, but instead stated “they were thirsty”. Jackson gets a lot of hate, but it’s because of him many now hate the Kansas City Chiefs by association.

Pouring liquids on fans seems to be a concurrent theme in the Mahomes family tree. Yet Jackson has also branched out to incidents outside of football stadiums. First, he called out a bar in Kansas City, claiming “The service is absolutely terrible and the servers are so rude”. This prompted the bar to fire back publicly saying “We survived a global pandemic, we’ll survive your ego.“The exact details of what transpired at the bar that night are not known. However, it appears that Jackson Mahomes thought he was a VIP and should be treated as such. All simply because of his relation to his brother and his ability to dance on TikTok.

Jackson did not like that reality check, yet it wouldn’t be his last bar issue. Another incident has actually resulted in legal action against Jackson. Mahomes was arrested for charges of aggravated sexual battery. The case is still ongoing, so as of now, Jackson is simply an “alleged sexual abuser.” The owner of the bar claims he forcibly kissed her. It’s also possible she just accidentally got in his way while he was shooting one of his TikToks.

Those two hold a lot of blame for this Kansas City Chiefs hate. Patrick himself isn’t exactly innocent either. It’s common to see players immediately motion to the refs for a flag when a play doesn’t go their way, but Mahomes whining has surpassed the norm for typical NFL players. After the Chiefs lost to the Packers, Mahomes spent the week complaining about the refs. They missed calls he said, opting not to acknowledge phantom calls that had gone their way. It was a week later against the Bills. Trailing late in the game, Patrick completed a pass to Travis Kelce. Kelce subsequently lateralled the ball back to Kadarius Toney. Toney then walked in for the go-ahead touchdown late in the game. It was an awesome play. Except a flag had already been thrown as soon as the ball was snapped, Toney had lined up offsides.

This prompted Mahomes to throw an extremely childlike temper tantrum on the sidelines. He threw his helmet and even pulled the classic faux-tough guy “Hold me back!” move toward the refs. After the game, rather than just shake Bills QB Josh Allen’s hand and say “good game”, Patrick stared at him with dead eyes and mumbled about how bad the refs were. Josh just won the game dude; he doesn’t want to hear you crying about how it wasn’t fair. The absolute lack of sportsmanship and crybaby behavior did not help his case for anyone who didn’t already hate the Kansas City Chiefs.

We went from Loving to Hating Travis Kelce

While Mahomes is the golden boy in KC, a lot of his success wouldn’t have been possible if not for having Kelce on his team. Kelce, much like Mahomes, actually had been easy to root for at first. He was a down-to-earth guy who you loved to watch, both because of his talent on the field and his demeanor. Yet somewhere along the way that all changed and the Kansas City Chiefs hate has spiraled because of it. Travis has had a monumental fall from grace in such a short period, people remember Aaron Rodgers as a great Jets QB more than they do Kelce being likable.

This has a few reasons for happening as fast as it did. First, Travis is a cocky player, and that’s fine in itself. Lately, though that cockiness is fueled more by arrogance and pompousness than anything else. While cockiness and arrogance may seem like they’re the same, they’re not. The differences are noticeable for anyone who has watched the Chiefs over the years.

Kelce often now taunts other players, both before and during games. Look at what happened with Justin Tucker recently right before the AFC Championship.  Tucker, kicker for the Ravens and an all-time great, was warming up on the same side as the Chiefs. Kelce (and Mahomes) felt this was disrespectful and chose to show this by tossing his equipment off the field while Tucker sat there continuing to stretch. This incident blew up before the game on social media, and of course, continued to be talked about after the game. Tucker downplayed the entire event, saying it wasn’t a big deal.

Kelce on the other hand decided he would use this to further push this image of his as being a badass. On his podcast saying “If you’re (Tucker) gonna be a dick, I promise you, I can one-up you every time.” As if tossing someone else’s equipment around is some rebellious move that puts Kelce in the upper echelons of tough guys with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Clint Eastwood, or Chuck Norris. This was after Tucker even tried to quash any animosity from the entire situation publicly. Kelce however felt he needed to flex for the world on his podcast like he’d done something even minimally badass.

Of course, this entire narrative of big bad Trav’ being a really tough guy wouldn’t be so prevalent if it weren’t for the fact that he also has been getting a rapid marketing push from his publicists and managers. Much like Mahomes, Kelce is now shilling for any product he can, from soups to vaccines. That last one has probably rubbed many the wrong way, as the whole vaccine thing is a hot-button issue for many, so anyone who takes a paycheck to push something they see as a political marketing tool is going to be instantly vilified, rightfully or wrongfully so. The over-saturation of Kelce has been a big issue with people. And let’s not forget the biggest marketing issue that has arisen.  

The Media Has Made Taylor Swift the Enemy of NFL Fans

Taylor Swift is getting a bad rep from people for this entire thing. Yes, this relationship is currently being shoved down NFL fans’ throats. Without question, the amount of media coverage is obnoxious. So of course, people are tired of seeing her during an NFL game. This is on the NFL and the networks though, choosing to cut to her every time they can during a game to show her reactions, even including her in their slow-mo montages they show right before commercial breaks. She has generated over $330 million in revenue for the NFL since she started dating Kelce, so it makes sense the NFL will want to bleed this opportunity dry.

While it’s not completely her fault they’re doing so, common sense also should dictate that much like Kelce’s publicists, hers are probably working overtime to make sure she is recognized as often as she can be. For those who want to just watch football on Sundays, we don’t want to hear Jim Nantz referring to Taylor Swift every time the Chiefs make a play on offense. Jim Nantz and Taylor Swift are two things that should have absolutely nothing to do with one another.

Yet the NFL keeps pushing her on us, and their desire to do so annoys people. This of course leads to people blaming Kelce and Swift, and even if it isn’t deserved, it’s led to more Kansas City Chiefs hate as many now hope for the Chiefs’ downfall solely so they can stop having to roll their eyes every time it’s mentioned during an NFL game.  

The Refs (and maybe Vegas?) Haven’t Helped

You wouldn’t know it from Brittany Mahomes’ social media cries or Patrick Mahomes’s sideline tantrum during that Bills game, but for many of us who have watched a lot of Chiefs games this season (see above re: why they’re on every primetime game or shown in most of the country weekly), we have seen some sketchy calls coming from the refs. The NFL being rigged has gained a lot more traction recently, and calls in Chiefs games have certainly aided that idea. While Mahomes is busy crying about a legitimate offsides call, I’d love to hear him if the refs called what should be holding on offense during pretty much every Chiefs play.

The week before the Bills against the Packers, Mahomes was moaning about the refs missing calls on their last drive, yet he was mum regarding a completely bogus late hit penalty on him that kept their drive alive and gave them 15 extra yards. The fact that the refs have their hands on the yellow flag, ready to throw it, any time a defender gets within an inch of Mahomes.

Some people may think it’s crazy that the NFL would have some sort of bias in who wins games, but it isn’t that far-fetched to think they want a team that just brought in $330 million due to who one of the players’ girlfriends is to make it to the Super Bowl. It also isn’t out of the realm of possibility to think that a billion-dollar corporation that is now partnered with legal gambling sites might be up to some shady business practices. I’ve heard of crazier things happening in this world.

With winning comes Hate in Kansas City

Above all, this is unfortunately the biggest reason so many of us have turned against Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs. As we saw with the Patriots, NFL fans tire easily from the same guys winning over and over. We want variety in the league and don’t want to watch a team (that isn’t ours) keep dominating the sport. The outside factors that come with Kelce and Mahomes have not helped, but if they were finishing with first-round playoff exits every year, we’d probably be a little more tolerable of having to see Taylor Swift during an NFL game or watching Mahomes bitch about not getting a call go his way for once. Yet here we are, and unfortunately that’s why I, and many others, will find myself cheering for the 49ers at the Super Bowl next Sunday.

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Featured Image: Rob Carr/Getty Images