Chiefs Coach Did Not Allow Players to Watch Rihanna's Super Bowl Halftime Show: Patrick Mahomes
There were two things that I missed during Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
The first was Kansas City’s game-winning drive, which saw kicker Harrison Butker seal the underdog Chiefs’ 38-35 victory with a last-second field goal. My inattention was unintentional; my daughter, in the throes of a stomach flu that’s currently working its way through the family, decided to decorate our floor as the game came down to the wire. Que sera sera.
The second was pop star Rihanna’s halftime show — or at least the audio portion. This was wholly intentional, since I’ve heard Rihanna’s music before and have no intention of hearing it again if I’m given the option. I did watch it on mute, however, and the spectacle was vaguely amusing with no sound.
A pregnant woman dressed in the leftover costumes from Sam Smith’s Satanic Grammy performance, grabbing her crotch on national TV while surrounded by a cadre of gyrating dancers garbed in what appeared to be half-finished versions of the pink bunny outfit from “A Christmas Story,” may indeed be lewd, crass and profoundly dispiriting, but there’s a dark laugh or two to be had if you don’t have to listen to the actual music.
Well, as it turns out, the Kansas City Chiefs went one step further than I did. They didn’t miss the game-winning drive — this being a physical impossibility — but the players for the AFC champions were forbidden from seeing Rihanna’s performance by Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, according to Chiefs quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.
In an appearance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Feb. 14, Mahomes said the edict came down after the Chiefs went into the locker room losing by 10 to the favored Eagles, 24-14.
“Coach Reid told us, he said, ‘If you go out to watch the performance, just keep walking, because you’re not playing the rest of the game,'” Mahomes said.
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
As Fox News noted, the order came after a controversy from last year’s Super Bowl, in which Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson left the locker room to watch the halftime spectacular at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
The Bengals ended up losing the game to the Los Angeles Rams, 23-20.
However, in McPherson’s defense, 1) he was 4-for-4 in field goal and extra point attempts during the game, 2) the halftime show was actually halfway decent last year, featuring hip-hop luminaries like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and others, and 3) nobody cares about the kicker until he misses, anyway.
McPherson staying on the field to watch the half time show is awesome haha pic.twitter.com/Nhp3RDMMJG
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) February 14, 2022
That said, Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons, in an interview with The Athletic, called McPherson’s decision to catch the halftime show “a sore subject” after the loss.
Nevertheless, unless any of the Chiefs players wanted to see a visibly pregnant woman grab her crotch in front of tens of thousands at State Farm Stadium (and millions more watching on TV), they didn’t miss much — and they certainly didn’t need the distraction. And if they really felt like this was a great loss to them, personally, I would advise seeking professional help posthaste. (Them and numerous others, as well; Fox News reported the halftime show was the most watched in Super Bowl history.)
Oh, and to top it all off, there was also a lot of painfully obvious lip-syncing involved, too:
#Rihanna you know I love you but that’s the worst lips sinc ever. OMG 😳 pic.twitter.com/B3EQI888cm
— Alicia Baeza (@LemAliciaBaeza) February 13, 2023
Isn’t Rihanna the richest woman alive? Why is she lip syncing? Just do your thing. #rihanna #lipsync #superbowlhalftimeshow pic.twitter.com/lcloKuC8pd
— ChrisCONVRDIST (@CConardist) February 13, 2023
Even former President Donald Trump was moved to comment on the wretchedness of the spectacle: “EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst Halftime Show in Super Bowl history — This after insulting far more than half of our Nation, which is already in serious DECLINE, with her foul and insulting language,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social media platform. “Also, so much for her ‘Stylist!’”
But anyway, at least I can say the Kansas City Chiefs and I have one thing in common: We’re glad we missed most of Rihanna’s halftime “spectacular,” albeit for different reasons.
As for the final drive, that’s where things diverge. Oh well.
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