Bills Fans Facing Backlash for Viral Patrick Mahomes Incident

The Buffalo Bills (9-2) handed the Kansas City Chiefs (9-1) their first loss of the 2024 season on Sunday. However, a very small segment of Bills fans drew attention away from the 30-21 win before the highly anticipated AFC battle even began.

About 30 minutes prior to kickoff, a now-viral photo reached over five million people on X after an NFL aggregator account posted it. The image showed a Kermit the Frog doll wearing a Patrick Mahomes jersey and wig while hanging from a pole on a main road outside of Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium.

Fans have long jokingly compared Mahomes’ unique voice to the “Muppets” character, but reactions online were split on Sunday, with some chalking it up to usual NFL fan shenanigans while others believe it crossed a line.

“THIS IS DISGUSTING🚨🚨🚨 #Bills fans are HANGING a Kermit the Frog wearing a Pat Mahomes jersey in the streets of Buffalo. This is unacceptable and sickening,” the aggregator account wrote, echoing a video clip posted by Marca.

Patrick Mahomes

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes rolls out to throw the ball against the Bills.

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

TMZ Sports also caught wind of it, later writing, “The stunt is being talked about on social media — sparking a debate on whether it crossed the line given Mahomes is Black.”

“Bills fans are worst in the NFL! This is disgusting! 😡” a Chiefs fan account commented on X.

“Classy,” a fan wrote sarcastically.

“Okay this is crazy 😭,” someone else wrote.

“As a Broncos fan, even I think that’s a bit extreme,” another added.

On the other side of the debate, many fans called the outrage “soft” and “blowing things way out of proportion.”

“Buddy this happened every year when Brady came to town lol,” one fan even acknowledged.

This isn’t the first Kermit the Frog incident this season, as the rival Las Vegas Raiders stirred the pot during training camp while playing with an identical Mahomes-styled puppet.

The Chiefs’ MVP quarterback later brushed the joke aside, telling reporters that “it’ll get handled when it gets handled.”

On the field, Mahomes finished Sunday’s loss completing 23-of-33 passes for 196 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s now up to 11 picks in 10 games this season, three shy of his career-high (14) from last season.