Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes is going to enjoy a cold one with a side of foot sweat if the Chiefs win the Super Bowl on Sunday ... 'cause the K.C. star said Monday he'll chug a beer right outta Cooper Manning's boot if they get the dub over the Eagles!!!

The quarterback made the promise to the oldest Manning brother during a fun interview at Super Bowl week's opening night -- after Cooper had asked him a series of questions about cowboy boots.

Eventually, Mahomes said as long as Cooper joined him in the beer guzzling, he'd drink one down out of the footwear -- no problem.

"Post-Super Bowl, if you bring that thing there, and we get the win," Mahomes said, "I'll drink the beer out of the boot with you."

Of course, the 27-year-old signal-caller had a couple caveats. No. 1 -- it's gotta be Coors Light (everyone knows Mahomes loves his Silver Bullets), and No. 2, Cooper has to be hygienic about it all.

"I've got to make sure you wash your socks before we do that," Mahomes said.

While the two were laughing over the bet -- odds are pretty good it'll go down. After all, Mahomes was no stranger to pouring beer down his throat the last time the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2020.

Tom Brady clearly ain't letting himself go in retirement ... the former quarterback just shared a selfie in nothing but his undies -- and he looks GOOOOOOOD!!!!

TB12 posted the pic early Monday morning on his Twitter page ... paying off a bet he made with his clothing company way back in June.

At the time, he said he'd recreate models wearing his Brady brand underwear if the tweet got 40,000 likes. When the co. reminded him of it all Monday, he paid it off in a big way ... and we're all grateful for it.

Tom showed off some biceps, some pecs, and a set of abs -- all while his hand was conveniently placed to cover up his junk.

He mentioned Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski while revealing the pic -- asking the two, who have posed often in their undies for various brands in their lifetimes, if he was doing it right.

Of course, Tom's bod shouldn't exactly surprise anybody -- while he's a retired man now, it's only been a couple weeks since he left football.

Now batting for the Atlanta Braves ... Travis Kelce?!?

A former MLB scout tells TMZ Sports that very well could have been a possibility this year and beyond -- if only Kelce had opted to play baseball instead of football after high school.

Reggie Sanders -- who scouted for the Braves in the Ohio area as Kelce was starring at Cleveland Heights H.S. in the early 2000s -- tells us that in his several trips to see the teenager who grew up to be a Kansas City Chiefs star ... he was blown away by what he saw.

Sanders remembered the future tight end as a good hitter with blazing speed ... and noted the young Kelce, who graduated H.S. in 2008, was towering, too.

"He seemed like a big leaguer on a field of high school players," said Sanders, who worked for the Braves from 2002 to 2007. "He looks almost the same size today as he was in high school."

Sanders said after watching Kelce play, he was "certain" the guy would have ended up in the big leagues if he had stuck with it ... telling us, "I remember writing his report and I comped him to Josh Hamilton."

Of course, Kelce never stayed with baseball -- he opted to follow in his big brother's footsteps and play football at Cincinnati. The rest, as you know, is history ... and he'll be playing for his second Super Bowl championship next week.

Doug Williams tells TMZ Sports he teared up after Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts officially made the Super Bowl ... comparing the moment to when Barack Obama first got elected.

Williams, the first-ever Black starting quarterback to win the Lombardi Trophy, said the tears never quite spilled over onto his cheeks -- but he said they were there, and they were filled with happiness nonetheless.

"I had tears of joy in my eye because I had an opportunity to witness this," the former Washington signal-caller said.

"Sit there, and just look at it, and say to myself, 'Man, we got two Black quarterbacks playing in the Super Bowl.'"

Williams said he had similar feelings when Obama beat out John McCain in the 2008 Presidential Election ... and also when Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith coached against each other in the Colts vs. Bears Super Bowl XLI.

"Things like that," Williams said, "give me joy. Give me chills."

Williams became the first Black QB to win a Super Bowl in 1988, when Washington beat Denver in SB XXII. Since then, Russell Wilson and Mahomes are the only two who have accomplished the same feat.

Michael Blackson says Eli Apple is ruthless with the Twitter fingers ... telling TMZ Sports he's not one bit surprised about his nephew's trash-talking antics -- 'cause it "runs in the family!!"

Apple made headlines throughout the playoffs for speaking his mind on social media ... going after opposing teams and gloating each time the Bengals came out victorious.

The actor-comedian told us he was cheering on his kin against the Kansas City Chiefs on championship Sunday ... but admits if he were Eli, he would have waited until after he won a Super Bowl ring to get at his contemporaries.

"I was rooting for him," Blackson said. "I always believe in talking smack once you get that ring. Once you get that ring, then you can talk smack."

Michael said despite what some people say about Eli, there are a lot of cornerbacks who want to be in his position -- playing in back-to-back AFC title games and the SB last season.

Michael also told us his thoughts on the big game -- he says the first-ever Super Bowl between two black quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts, "means a lot."

"Finally, Black quarterbacks are getting recognized," Blackson said. "At one point, nobody thought running quarterbacks would make it to the Super Bowl."

MB expects the game to be a high-scoring affair ... and predicts the Eagles will defeat the Chiefs, 28-24, but says you can never count out Mahomes.

"Patrick Mahomes is a kid that never goes down," Blackson said. "This guy finds ways to stay in the game and finds ways to win the game. We have to contain him. He runs all over the place."

With Travis and Jason Kelce facing off in the Super Bowl, fans are petitioning to get their mom, Donna, to do the coin toss before the big game in Arizona ... and it's already got more than 15,000 signatures!!

The petition was started by Chiefs fan Amber Smith -- who is lobbying the NFL to allow Donna to participate in the tradition since the big game has been dubbed the "Kelce Bowl," according to change.org.

"What a great way to show the Super Proud mama some Amazing Appreciation and Love while giving her a once in a lifetime opportunity!! ❤️" the petition page says.

The game will be a historic moment for Travis and Jason -- they will become the first brothers to ever face off in the Super Bowl.

However, the Kelce brothers want the "Kelce Bowl" storyline to stop ... as the two feel like the narrative takes away from their teammates.

"I kinda don’t like that we’re calling it the Kelce Bowl," Jason said on their New Heights podcast. "Appreciate the support, but there’s a lot of guys involved with this. There’s major organizations involved. Unbelievable storylines in this Super Bowl."

Travis added, "Appreciate you guys calling it the Kelce Bowl, but let’s focus on the Chiefs-Eagles."

Either way ... it appears fans want to see Mama Kelce on the field.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson gave Travis Kelce a ringing endorsement ... after the NFL superstar ripped the Cincinnati mayor, calling him a "jabroni" following the Chiefs' victory over the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game!

Of course, Kansas City's 6x Pro Bowl tight end channeled The Rock during his on-field postgame interview, telling Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval -- who trolled the Chiefs and their QB Patrick Mahomes before the game -- to "Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni!"

Well, the WWE legend and A-list movie star clearly got a kick out of Kelce's clap back, going to Twitter Monday night to show his appreciation for Travis.

"My boy said what he said," The Rock wrote. "I appreciate the venomous 'shut yo' over formal 'shut your' 🤣👊🏽🏆."

Kelce's speech was brilliant ... and anyone familiar with The Rock's signature punchlines knows not everyone can pull off the impersonation!

When The Rock was a WWF/WWE Superstar, he routinely made fans laugh by calling fellow wrestlers "jabroni's" and telling opponents ... "it doesn't matter what your name is!" He'd also threaten to take them to the "Smackdown Hotel." 😅

Kelce earned the right to trash talk after his performance Sunday ... he had 7 receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown, making big plays for his team, as has become routine for the league's best pass-catching TE.

Now, the 33-year-old tight end will face off against his brother, Eagles star Jason Kelce, at Super Bowl LVII in Arizona ... a.k.a. the "Kelce Bowl", a.k.a. the "Andy Reid Bowl."

Philly legend, Ricky Watters believes the Eagles have the quarterback edge over an ailing Patrick Mahomes, who's nursing a high ankle sprain. But, it's razor close and the former NFL MVP is still incredibly dangerous!

"I think you can say that [Eagles have QB advantage], but Mahomes, he been playing, even with his ankle sprain, he's still great!" Watters told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1).

"That's what's so crazy about him. He's such a great quarterback and I think he will feel better because he will have some time to heal up and I'm sure they're gonna be working that ankle over and over all the way up to game time."

Of course, the 27-year-old Super Bowl champ was injured during the Divisional round game against the Jaguars ... still managing to throw for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Bengals. Mahomes also ran critical yards in the waning moments of the game, setting up the game-winning field goal.

Speaking of the injury, Ricky says he's beyond impressed with Mahomes' toughness ... but at the end of the day, the 5x Pro Bowler played with the Eagles, so there's no question about who he's rooting for come Super Sunday.

"That's the worst ankle sprain you can have is a high ankle sprain so for [Mahomes] to do what he's doing, he's a warrior and I love him as well. I really do, so it's really hard to go against him because I love him so much, I love watching him play but you know, I gotta go with my Eagles. You know I gotta see the Eagles fly, baby."

As for Jalen Hurts, Watters is blown away by how well he's played this season.

"[Jalen] does not look like a 24-year-old, that's for sure. He looks like a well-seasoned veteran," Ricky told us ... before explaining why Hurts is so damn hard to contain.

Watters won a Super Bowl in 1995 ... so he knows what it takes to win the big game. We asked him what advice he'd give to the Philly players.

Patrick Mahomes' wife, Brittany, gave Eli Apple a taste of his own medicine after the Chiefs beat the Bengals on Sunday ... trolling the Cincy cornerback for running his mouth in the days leading up to the game.

Apple was oozing confidence on social media after the Bengals eliminated Buffalo last week ... channeling his inner Patrick Beverley and telling the Bills players to enjoy their early vacation as Cincy moved on in the playoffs.

As soon as the Bengals were booted from Super Bowl contention themselves, it was Brittany's time to get the last laugh.

"Cancun on 3 ✌🏼," Mahomes said on Twitter.

It wasn't just the superstar's wife going after Apple following the game ... 'cause Chiefs players unleashed on him while smoking victory cigars in the locker room.

"Eli Apple, I'mma smoke one for you!!" Juan Thornhill said on Instagram.

Even Patrick's dad had some words for the Bengals' superstar quarterback  ... saying he'll celebrate the W by "smoking on that Joe Burrow."

The Chiefs played like they were pissed off ... and Travis Kelce and others made it clear they felt disrespected by Mike Hilton referring to Arrowhead Stadium as "Burrowhead."

Travis Kelce had strong words for the Cincinnati Bengals AND their mayor after the Kansas City Chiefs secured a spot in the Super Bowl ... shutting down all "Burrowhead" talk following the AFC Championship game.

Patrick Mahomes and Co. snuck away with a nail-biting 23-20 victory on Sunday ... and the team made sure to send a message to Bengals defensive back Mike Hilton for previous comments he made about Joe Burrow "owning" Arrowhead Stadium.

Kelce interrupted Mahomes' postgame interview to respond to the bulletin board material ... shouting, "Burrowhead my ass!!" into the cameras.

"It's Mahomes' house!!"

Mahomes followed up by adding, "We showed this place, it's Arrowhead, it's not Burrowhead out here."

But, Kelce didn't stop there -- he also clapped back at Mayor Aftab Pureval for joining in on the smack talk with a social media post on Friday ... in which he asked Burrow to take a paternity test to find out if he was Mahomes' dad.

Kelce channeled The Rock to trash the disrespect ... saying, "Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni!!"

The Chiefs will now face off against the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 ... and don't expect Philly players to be running their mouths -- or Kelce will have something to say.

Move over, Rob Gronkowski ... Chiefs legend Christian Okoye tells TMZ Sports it won't be long before Travis Kelce claims the title of the greatest tight end of all time!!

Okoye showered the Kanas City star with praise just a couple days before the Chiefs' AFC Championship Game against the Bengals ... saying he expects Patrick Mahomes' favorite target to have a big night against Cincy.

Okoye explained ... Kelce is "an incredible weapon" who he views as not only the Chiefs' No. 1 receiver -- but the greatest to ever do it at the TE position.

"I think he's going to end up being the best tight end in the league ever," Okoye said. "If he keeps going the way he's going, it's going to be much better than ones before him. It's just incredible."

As for the guy throwing Kelce the footballs -- Okoye heaped compliments on Mahomes too ... telling us he believes there's really not much of a comparison there between the K.C. signal-caller and Joe Burrow.

"Patrick Mahomes' numbers are way better than Burrow's," Okoye said. "That's why he's going to be the MVP of the league this year."

Both Kelce and Mahomes will try to take down the Bengals for the first time since 2018 ... and Okoye clearly thinks they'll get it done this weekend.

One of the biggest reasons? The former K.C. running back tells us the trash talk that the Bengals have been doing in the leadup to the game -- disses that included calling Arrowhead Stadium "Burrowhead" -- will play a big role in why the Chiefs come out on top on Sunday.

Is it possible Patrick Mahomes could play BETTER on his injured ankle this weekend? Michael Vick certainly thinks so ... telling TMZ Sports he believes it could actually help the QB vs. the Bengals!!!

Vick explained ... when he was battling through ailments during big games in his legendary career, it made him focus more on the field -- and, in turn, upped his game a bit.

The former Philadelphia Eagles signal-caller tells us he expects similar results from Mahomes in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

"I know this from playing at a high level and playing against high-level competition," Vick said, "sometimes when you play hurt, you'll be a little bit more focused. A little bit more dialed in."

Mahomes injured his ankle last Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but finished out the game. Vick says the Chiefs' star's ability to come back despite twisting the limb gives him confidence Mahomes is one of the rare athletes who can step up despite a wound.

"Playing hurt is not a bad thing if you know how to do it," Vick said. "Only certain people can do it -- and the ones that are listening right now, they know what I'm saying. They can relate."

Mahomes hasn't been seen sporting much of a limp at all since the injury -- and is expected to go against Cincinnati.

Of course, if he wins, he'll have a spot in yet another Super Bowl -- and if the Eagles manage to do the same, Jalen Hurts will too ... marking the first-ever Big Game that will feature two Black starting quarterbacks.

"Burrowhead" is dead in the Bengals' locker room ... at least, that's according to Cincinnati star kicker Evan McPherson, who tells TMZ Sports the jab was a one-time thing that the team is definitely not using as a rallying cry heading into the big game against the Chiefs.

Cincy defensive back Mike Hilton coined the term following the Bengals' playoff victory over the Bills last weekend ... using it as a way to describe Joe Burrow's recent dominance over Patrick Mahomes, K.C. and Arrowhead Stadium.

Hilton was celebrating, and a hot mic captured him yelling, "We'll see ya'll in Burrowhead!" in this week's AFC Championship Game.

K.C. players have appeared to use it as motivation and bulletin board material ... but McPherson explained it's not a jab the Bengals are saying regularly -- if at all anymore.

"I think that was just something Mike Hilton said," McPherson told us.

"I haven't heard 'Burrowhead' in the locker room. I just seen it on the videos. So I think it was just kind of one of those media things."

To be fair, Burrow has been dominant when playing the Chiefs -- and in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead last year, he played well, winning in overtime. McPherson, though, told us he and the guys are staying as humble as possible, not gloating about it all at practices and workouts.

"Obviously, it seems like Joe and the Bengals, as of late, have the Chiefs' number," McPherson said. "As a team, we're really taught to take it one game at a time and separate all those."

The mayor of Cincinnati just trolled Patrick Mahomes ahead of the Chiefs' playoff game against the Bengals ... insisting Joe Burrow has the K.C. star quarterback's number completely.

Mayor Aftab Pureval threw the shade in a video posted to his social media page Friday ... just two days before the Bengals-Chiefs AFC championship game -- poking fun at the Kansas City signal-caller.

In the clip, the mayor jokingly says officials asked Burrow to take a paternity test to determine if he's Mahomes' dad ... since the Cincy QB is 3-0 in his career against Patrick.

Pureval then reminisced about the Bengals' 27-24 AFC title game victory last season ... and proclaimed Jan 29, 2023 as "They Gotta Play Us Day" in Cincinnati.

Of course, the mayor has all the reasons to gloat ... the Bengals have found both regular-season and postseason success against Mahomes and the Chiefs -- and are considered by many to be the favorite on Sunday.

Sorry, Joe Burrow ... Brad Pitt is definitely NOT in the Bengals' corner this weekend -- saying Thursday night he's still ridin' or dyin' with his hometown team!!!

The "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" star made the not-so-shocking football pick after finishing up filming some scenes for his new flick with George Clooney out in NYC ... saying, as expected, it's Kansas City or bust for him this year.

"Chiefs, baby!" he said of his Super Bowl selection as he got into his ride.

Of course, Brad's been a longtime supporter of the Chiefs ... while he was born in Oklahoma, he moved to Missouri at an early age and was raised just a few hours from Arrowhead Stadium.

In fact, he's been seen sporting K.C. gear multiple times over the years, even rockin' a Chiefs cap at an awards show back in 2020.

In order for Pitt's championship dream to come true, the Chiefs have got to get through Burrow and the Bengals this weekend -- before they'll take on the winner of the Eagles vs. 49ers in Super Bowl LVII.

It might be cold in Kansas City, but Gracie Hunt is on fire ... 'cause the Chiefs heiress showed support for her beloved team by sporting a bikini in the snow ahead of their big playoff game!!

Gracie -- daughter of K.C. Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt -- shared the steamy pics on Friday via Instagram ... a day before Kansas City faces the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Round at Arrowhead Stadium.

The 23-year-old was clearly enjoyin' the snow with her Chiefs-themed bathing suit on ... and considering the temps, she threw on some moon boots and a metallic jacket so she didn't freeze to death.

"Thinking warm thoughts and hoping for a Chiefs WIN!❤️‍🔥," Hunt said. "Who’s ready for game day?!🏈"

Of course, Hunt isn't camera shy -- she's been in several beauty pageants in the past ... and was named Miss Kansas USA in 2021. Gracie also finished in the top 15 in the Miss USA contest that same year.

FYI, it's supposed to rain and snow for the Jaguars-Chiefs playoff game, with temps in the 30s.