There were likely countless people who raced to check their calendars after a video circulated of the Las Vegas Raiders mocking Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes with a Kermit the Frog doll at training camp on Thursday. They soon realized that it was in fact not the year 2003 or 1984.
That further raises the question of why players (rookie safety Trey Taylor is the one shown in the video) who represent a franchise in search of its second winning season since 2016 would poke the bear. Especially since said bear has consistently mauled Vegas for almost the entirety of the Mahomes era.
The two-time defending Super Bowl MVP is sharing his thoughts on the Raiders' ribbing. “Stuff like that happens,” he said, per ESPN's Adam Teicher. “It will get handled when it gets handled.”
Mahomes is managing to be simultaneously diplomatic and ominous through his words, an approach that is quite difficult to master. He is making it perfectly clear how he plans to respond to this joke, nay bulletin board material.
Mahomes will remember what “Kermit” said
Patrick Mahomes has been compared to the face of The Muppets franchise due to the sound of his voice. A fan brought the Kermit doll, which was conspicuously adorned with a curly wig, to Raiders' training camp and then showed it to players after practice. Some individuals laughed uproariously and one (ostensibly Taylor) mimics the Mahomes-like, fake frog to say “I'm a b***h.”
It is that soundbite that will presumably be tattooed in the superstar's mind when he and the Chiefs come to Sin City for a divisional matchup on Sunday, Oct. 27. The 28-year-old has made the Kermit references himself, but it is different when others use the green icon as a form of trash-talk.
Unleashing a beatdown in Allegiant Stadium could be acceptable revenge. Though, the Raiders are confident they have turned a corner in this so-called rivalry and are determined to prove it.
Raiders vs. Chiefs is more relevant than it has been in a while
The tension that exists between these two AFC West franchises is well-documented by now. Each team has trolled each other in the past, clearly relishing the opportunity to earn bragging rights over the other. They have overwhelmingly belonged to KC of late, but a Raiders' road victory on Christmas Day last season galvanized the locker room.
Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce eventually coined the term “Mahomes Rules” to refer to the defensive strategy he plans to implement against Kansas City, a nod to the Detroit Pistons' “Jordan Rules.” Clearly, self-belief is high among the Raiders. As it should be.
Though, Trey Taylor and anyone else who is having fun at Patrick Mahomes' expense need to be ready for an extra-motivated Chiefs squad this fall. And the next time a member of the team gets the urge to roast the reigning champions, they might want to heed Kermit the Frog's own words of wisdom.
“It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.” But at the very least, the Raiders must be ready to back up the bravado on the field.
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