Mahomes OK being ‘villain’ if Chiefs keep winning

Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 7, 2024, 01:56 PM ET
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- Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star
- Joined ESPN in 2013

HENDERSON, Nev. — The Kansas City Chiefs were booed loudly by fans when they were introduced at the Super Bowl’s opening night on Monday. Maybe the reaction was skewed a bit by the presence of fans of the Las Vegas Raiders, one of the Chiefs’ biggest rivals.

But there seems to be fatigue among football fans over the success of the Chiefs, who on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers will play in their fourth Super Bowl in five seasons.

The Chiefs have noticed. Defensive tackle Chris Jones has called the Chiefs “villains” in the eyes of many fans. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes said disappointing those fans wasn’t necessarily a goal of his.

“I think I just like winning,” Mahomes said. “If you win a lot and that causes you to be a villain, then I’m OK with it. But at the end of the day, I’m going to enjoy playing the game and try to win as much as possible.”

The Chiefs seemed to be a fan favorite when they faced the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV four years ago. Then, they were viewed as fresh participants. Indeed, that Super Bowl appearance was the first for the franchise in 50 years.

In addition, the Chiefs had some stars new to the national stage, most notably Mahomes. But fans are now familiar with Mahomes, Jones and Travis Kelce.

“Everybody used to love us,” Jones said. “We used to be one of the most favorite teams. Now everybody’s ready for the Chiefs to lose.

“It’s OK. They can continue hating. You call it hate when you win a whole lot. The problem is we haven’t won as much as people think. We’ve won only two [Super Bowls], right? We only won two out of three.”