What Patrick Mahomes did to earn $15k fine from NFL — what his ‘violent gesture’ was
The NFL is making sure sportsmanship is always followed on the field, even if it means fining one of their star quarterbacks.
Over the weekend, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was fined almost $15,000 after making a “violent gesture” during an away game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, November 17, which was ultimately the Chiefs’ first loss of the season.
It’s the latest in a series of fines players have received recently, whether over inappropriate touchdown celebrations or for making political statements.
Per NBC Sports, Patrick, 29, was fined $14,069 after he used his fingers to mimic shooting a gun, in celebration of throwing a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to tight end Noah Gray.
The Chiefs, who had had an undefeated season until now and won the last Super Bowl, ultimately lost the game 30-21, their first loss in almost a year, after losing to the Las Vegas Raiders during a Christmas Day game last year.
Though Patrick hasn’t addressed the fine, he did speak to reporters about his team’s first loss after the game.
“It’s a good football team, so there’s nothing to hang your head [about],” he said, adding: “We feel like we can play better, so we will get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can be a better football team in the end.”
He went on: “I’m hoping that [losing] is a benefit. I’m not going to say I or we relaxed, but at the same time I feel like we were just coming away with these wins at the end of the game.”
His teammate, tight end Travis Kelce, also spoke out during an episode of his New Heights podcast, which he hosts with his brother Jason Kelce. “I don’t give a [expletive] how your body is feeling, I don’t give a [expletive] where your mentality is off the field,” he bluntly declared, emphasizing: “When you step into that building, we are here to figure [expletive] out. We are here to get better as football players for the football team.”
This isn’t the first time Patrick, or anyone from the Chiefs’ team, including their own coach, has received a fine.
Back in December of last year, Patrick was fined $50,000, also during a game against the Bills, for “verbally abusing” an official during the game, which they also lost, CBS Sports reported at the time.
Moreover, during that same game, the team’s coach Andy Reid, who has been head coach for just over ten years, was fined a whopping $100,000 for publicly criticizing an official.