One of the weirder pieces of news to come out of the Super Bowl festivities recently was thanks to a bit of a celebrity scuffle of sorts between two pretty unlikely sources. The first made sense given the setting, as Patrick Mahomes Sr., the father of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes Jr., found himself involved in the near-fracas. However, the other participant was somehow former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker.
Rocker is a name that Braves fans know well. He pitched pretty well out of the Braves’ bullpen from 1998-2001, but also quickly became one of the most controversial players in baseball that few have missed. His comments about Mets fans and New York in particular got him in a lot of trouble and with good reason.
Apparently Mahomes Sr. and Rocker got into it down in New Orleans, although it was immediately unclear what caused the two to go after each other and why they cared about each other at all. However, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy had already teased a promotional fight between the two guys and now the fight is officially on which makes us wonder if all of this was just another publicity stunt. (NSFW language ahead warning)
It’s official. The paperwork was signed today. Pat Mahomes Sr vs John Rocker at Rough N Rowdy. April 19th. Real bad blood. @roughnrowdy https://t.co/Ax3r40WBwa pic.twitter.com/abVsaD5oGE
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 12, 2025
Former Braves pitcher John Rocker to fight Patrick Mahomes’ dad after scuffle of questionable veracity down at the Super Bowl
For Portnoy, the appeal of drumming up interest in…whatever the hell this is is clear. Barstool’s audience eats up promotional events like this one. If Portnoy has the opportunity to capitalize on a tentpole sporting event with some controversial characters, he is almost certainly going to at least try. Having Mahomes Sr. and Rocker (probably) have a confrontation in public to drum up interest just seems a bit too convenient when it comes to timing here.
As for Mahomes Sr. and Rocker, this provides them an opportunity to make some cash after both have had difficulties in recent years. Rocker’s previous comments as a player, as well as his willingness to offend, well, almost anyone has made him persona non grata in a lot of circles. He did appear on Survivor back in 2014 before the other contestants realized who he was and voted him off the island extremely quickly.
Mahomes Sr., meanwhile, has had issues as well. The former MLB pitcher has had some pretty public issues with alcohol over the years.
Is this pretty gross in the eyes of many? Yep, it sure is. It will be curious to see how this all unfolds because to this point, it feels like this bit of drama has been pretty scripted.
