r/todayilearned • u/Skaterose6 • 1d ago
TIL Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a well-known game-day superstition where he wears the same pair of red underwear for every game of his NFL career.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/38897219/nfl-kc-chiefs-patrick-mahomes-underwear297
u/EkansTG 1d ago
Sidney Crosby has been wearing the same jockstrap since juniors; It's more common than you think
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u/sickboy2212 1d ago
That things gotta be Theseus's jockstrap by now
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u/Skolsciopath 1d ago
"Theseus's jockstrap" is not a phrase I thought I would read today. Or any day, really.
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u/jupfold 1d ago
It absolutely is. The last time I saw it, I actually thought it was a new one
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u/armaedes 1d ago
The last time you saw it???
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u/pigeonHank 1d ago
Google it. Its barely hanging on. Idk how dudes dont wear the compression short ones. So much better and they hold up your socks
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u/LaikaZhuchka 21h ago
Crosby has talked about the equipment manager having to keep that thing together for decades. That guy retired a few years ago, and I bet it's because of the trauma.
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u/Sometimes_Stutters 1d ago
He still wears the same shoulder and elbow pads too.
His shoulder pads are clearly heavily repaired, but in a professional looking way
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u/OkWelcome6293 1d ago
Tom Brady used a single set of shoulder pads for his entire career, all the way from college.
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u/Sometimes_Stutters 1d ago
Football pads are much more sturdy. I’d expect them to last quite a bit longer
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u/bevelledo 1d ago
I know nothing about pass so forgive my ignorance.
Qb pads are much more sturdy than hockey pads?! 🤔 hockey players are taking major hits!!!
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u/_FLostInParadise_ 1d ago
Probably more that football pads have a hard shell with padding. If this is true he almost definitely has the same shells but has had padding replaced.
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u/thatissomeBS 14h ago
Even if the shell breaks, you can replace that piece.
Ship of TheseusShoulder pads of Brady12
u/SynthwaveSax 1d ago
And it looks like something that was taken out of a mummy’s tomb. It’s so gross.
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u/georgecostanza37 1d ago
I literally was thinking ew when i read the headline, then I instantly thought of Sid and was like oh yeah… and hockey players (not all) will literally wear the same equipment for decades.
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u/R4G 19h ago
I think Kirk Cousins has worn the same pads since college, or at least did through the Vikings.
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u/thatissomeBS 14h ago
Probably pretty common. You get everything fitted exactly the way you like, you keep it. It's not like they're using 2nd tier equipment at D1 schools. Honestly can't imagine they're using different stuff even down to D3 or NAIA. It's just the cost of having a football program.
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u/Slippery-ape 1d ago
Somebodies gonna steal his undies arent they...
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u/RealAmerik 1d ago
Collinsworth has tried like hell for years.
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u/youngcuriousafraid 1d ago
Collinsworth using a telescope to look into the Chiefs locker room, "now if you want to talk about commitment here is Patrick Mahomes wearing the same underwear, for what years now? I mean thats just amazing, its amazing what he does!"
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u/perpetualmotionmachi 1d ago
I feel like that could be a plot for a Danny McBride film, pulling off a heist to win a Super Bowl bet against the Chiefs
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u/Green-Cricket-8525 1d ago
Baseball is infamous for all the superstitions players have. I remember reading for a lot of players it’s more about the routine and getting into game mode than anything else.
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u/royalhawk345 1d ago
You might already be aware, but Pat Mahomes was also an excellent baseball player before committing to football. Even got drafted (I wanna say the Tigers?) in one of those super late rounds, basically the team taking a flyer on him in case the whole football thing didn't work out. His dad also spent most of the 90s as an MLB reliever.
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u/SourDoughBo 1d ago
Pretty common for athletes to have some sort of lucky clothing. I heard some baseball players had lucky thongs
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u/djankylosaur 1d ago
By heard, you mean read the TIL yesterday about the golden thong? It's quite the tradition.
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u/NErDysprosium 1d ago edited 1d ago
At one point I was technically considered an NCAA athlete. My school's basketball team went to March Madness and I was in the band, and according to my director every student who went on that trip (basketball players, cheer, dance, band, et cetera) was classified as an NCAA athlete for record-keeping purposes. I didn't have them that season, because that was my first year in the band, but by the time I graduated I had custom Converse with one of our cheers embroidered on the side that I wore to every game, as well as a necklace with that same cheer on it that I kept in my gig bag and wore to every game. I'm not at all shocked that real athletes also have lucky clothing.
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u/Obi_Wan_Benobi 11h ago
Jordan would wear his old North Carolina practice shorts under his Bulls shorts.
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u/mental_reincarnation 1d ago
If you’ve watched Space Jam you’ll know Michael Jordan wore his college shorts underneath his NBA shorts. Bill Buckner wore a Cubs batting(?) glove under his first base glove, yes especially during his infamous goof in the World Series with the Red Sox.
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u/shnerpdederp 1d ago
So he wore these same "lucky" underwear every time he's lost, gotten injured, and even when he got his ass kicked by the Eagles in the super bowl?
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u/ArmorGyarados 1d ago
I think the good has outweighed the bad by a significant margin
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u/Automatic-Clock-9194 1d ago
Friendly reminder that Mahomes alone has more Super Bowl wins than the eagles as a franchise do
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u/So_be 1d ago
Are you trying to apply logic to this situation…
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u/shnerpdederp 1d ago
No I just wanted to point out that Mahomes got his ass kicked by the Eagles in the super bowl
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u/nicklovin217 1d ago
Yea he’s only one more superbowl than the eagles entire history. Shucks.
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u/an_actual_lawyer 1d ago
Tampa Bay was a bigger asskicking, IMO.
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u/mageta621 14h ago
By margin of victory, slightly. By back and forth, I still take the Eagles. It was 34-0 until 0:34 in the 3rd quarter, then 40-6 until 2:54 left in the game. Birds had backups in when KC scored those 2 garbage time tds
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u/Supercaptaincat 1d ago
Must have forgotten them at that Super Bowl. Go birds.
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u/Good-Government-BS 1d ago
Yall must not actually watch football. Mahomes and the Chiefs have won 4 AFC championships and 3 super bowls in the last 6 years.
2 NFC champs and 1 SB for the Eagles. But go off, bro.
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u/SKCiskillingme 1d ago
Hell, people seem to have somehow forgotten that Mahomes beat the Eagles in a recent Super Bowl as well.
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u/IronCladNads 1d ago edited 1d ago
Shit talk is the standard for sports on the Internet. I'm a Cleveland fan for every team and a Blue Jackets on top. As obnoxious as Philly fans can be the Chiefs fans might be the worst
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u/Supercaptaincat 1d ago
Bro, I know, they were dominant for a few years, then they got trounced, it was a joke about underwear, chill out. It’s not that deep.
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u/TummyDrums 1d ago
Go ahead and cling to the past. It's all your team has at this point.
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u/Supercaptaincat 1d ago
Yeah, the birds have not been performing this year lol. Phils were a bit of a let down too.
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u/StructureBitter3778 1d ago
Only the band of the underwear is left at this point
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u/GOOGENHEIMER2 1d ago
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u/GudgerCollegeAlumnus 22h ago
When I learned that was dough, I couldn’t really see it the same anymore.
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u/ripyurballsoff 1d ago
The elastic has to be worn out by now. My underwear barely lasts a year.
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u/tbarr1991 14h ago
The fuck? Do you own like 2 pairs?
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u/ripyurballsoff 14h ago
LMAO no. I’ve been buy New Balance which are like middle of the road quality, and I have like 15? The elastic seems to last around like a year unless I buy expensive ones like under armor.
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u/HawkLife247 1d ago
The real question is does he wash them or not?
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u/Agile_Resident_4630 1d ago
When it’s not gameday Collinsworth takes them for personal use and laundering after.
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u/WitchesSphincter 1d ago
Only after losses. That win streak after getting the squirts was unpleasant for the entire team
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u/MisterSanitation 1d ago
No BUT he loans it out for massive income to special VIP customers in between games and in the off season.
So more of a business decision than anything.
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u/MediumAcceptable129 23h ago
Does he wash them?
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u/PervlovianResponse 22h ago
Does he look like a man capable of doing his own laundry?
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u/tegridyMike 20h ago
Have you seen his wife? She’s definitely not doing it for him
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u/ThedirtyNose 1d ago
I got a quarterback that won't wash his jockstrap because he thinks flys are lucky!
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u/the_chin2 1d ago
More hygenic to have Cal Ripken Jr. superstition was to eat chicken for dinner before every game lol
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u/shingofan 1d ago
I thought Wade Boggs was the one with that ritual.
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u/jayou619 1d ago
May he rest in peace
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u/GP_ADD 1d ago
God damn, that’s the same meal like every other day of the year for a baseball player
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u/Buzzed27 1d ago
Back then with double headers they'd play like 40 games in ~42 days at times. That's a lot of fucking chicken.
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u/scrooplynooples 6h ago
I can’t wait for him to retire and fanatics make a card out of his game-worn red underwear
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u/ptwonline 1d ago
I wonder how many times the waistband has had to be replaced since it tends to get stretched by washing and...wait. It does get washed, right?
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u/kindofboredd 1d ago
You only get one pair of a different standard color of underwear ppl. He just isn't going to buy a second pair of red underwear. C'mon now
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u/Tthelaundryman 23h ago
All those questionable calls or “weird” mishaps from the other team isn’t the nfl being rigged! It’s just his magic undies! It all makes sense now
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u/Wildebean 21h ago
Patriots OT Will Campbell will do you one better. He's supposedly worn the same pair of underwear every game day... since HIGH SCHOOL
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u/tuttleonia 1d ago
Then he's won games, lost games, been healthy and injured in them. What's the point?
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u/sandwichisahero 17h ago
He’s won more games than the QBs that don’t do it.
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u/tuttleonia 8h ago
My point is all outcomes have happened in them for him, so what's the point.
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u/relevantnewman 12h ago
there's at least 25-30 QBs with more all-time wins, so not quite sure that's accurate
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u/NoSalad8188 3h ago
Not a Mahomes fan but that’s a dumb comparison considering he’s halfway through his career. Mahomes has 99 wins through 130 starts so far. Which is tied for the most all time through 130 starts with Brady
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u/Will_Knot_Respond 1d ago
Superstitions are a weird thing, had a similar one playing middle school sports, then thought it was dumb and stopped. And here I am not a nfl QB lol
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u/Silencer_ 21h ago
That’s not the real TIL
The real TIL is that it’s all but confirmed that it’s a thong.
I mean he really runs like he has a thong on too
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u/Leading-Suspect8307 1d ago
Collinsworth, we get it. Nobody cares.