The president is trying to burnish is football bona fides and cozy up to the Chiefs quarterback before the Super Bowl
Donald Trump will become the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday, and he’s spent the run-up to the big game talking out of his ass about the game that famously spurned him when he tried to buy a team in the 1980s.
Trump threw a nod to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on Wednesday while signing an executive order intended to ban trans women from competing in women’s sports, claiming that when Tuberville was a college football coach, “his quarterback was Mahomes” and that Tuberville told Trump that Mahomes “made me into a great coach.”
Patrick Mahomes will attempt to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl championship this weekend, and has already established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time despite only playing in the NFL for seven full seasons.
Mahomes had a distinguished collegiate career at Texas Tech, but Tuberville never coached him. Mahomes was the school’s quarterback from 2014-2016; Tuberville left the school following the 2012 season. Tuberville’s tenure with the school came after his far-more-notable run with Auburn, which he coached to a national title, so even if he did coach Mahomes at Texas Tech, which he didn’t, the idea that the quarterback would have “made [him] into a great coach” is ridiculous.
Trump’s lie about Tuberville forced the senator into an awkward situation while appearing on former Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s show later in the day. “Since you used to coach Patrick Mahomes, does this mean you’re rooting for the Chiefs at the big game this Sunday?” Kelly asked.
“Well, I never even coached him,” Tuberville said. “What happened is, I recruited him, and then I left and went to another school. But, I got to be very good friends with him.”
But Tuberville didn’t recruit Mahomes, either, nor did they become good friends. Take it from Mahomes himself, who was asked about Tuberville while doing press ahead of the Super Bowl. “Uhhh, he did not recruit me at the time,” Mahomes said. “I don’t remember if I ever got to meet him or not.”
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Trump has a history of glomming onto star quarterbacks, and regularly gushed about Tom Brady while the New England Patriots were winning Super Bowls. He’s now doing what he can to sidle up to Mahomes. The day after his absurd lie about Tuberville coaching Mahomes, Trump congratulated Mahomes and his wife Brittany, who has expressed support for Trump’s policies, on the birth of their third child. “This is what I call a baby with great genes, both mother and father,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It’s happy times in the wonderful Mahomes family. See you all on Sunday!”
Mahomes’ new daughter, Golden Raye, was born nearly a month before Trump’s post.
Trump kept the football content coming on Friday. “Two great Quarterbacks in this game,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Also, an unbelievable running back, and the absolute best tight end in football (Ever!). Incredible coaching! If they would only get rid of that really weird looking new Kickoff ‘deal,’ which actually makes football more dangerous, they would be doing everybody, especially the fans, a big favor. ANYWAY, IT WILL BE A GREAT GAME!!! I’ll be doing the interview, before the game, at 3:00 P.M. There hasn’t been one in four years (Gee, I wonder why?).”
The kickoff “deal” to which Trump is referring is a new formation requirement the NFL implemented this year in order to reduce the potential for injury. “It actually is incredibly promising,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said of the rule change in October. “We’re seeing lower impacts that have led to less severe injuries and less number of injuries. So I think it’s working.”
Trump is right about Travis Kelce, though, who is indeed one of the greatest tight ends to ever play the game. Kelce is dating Taylor Swift, who will also be in attendance on Sunday — and who famously endorsed Kamala Harris for president last September, angering Trump.
“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” the president wrote in response.