ESPN Under Fire Over Patrick Mahomes Move During Texas Tech-Houston
With the NFL in offseason mode, Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes has plenty of time to enjoy other sports as a spectator. Just take for example Monday night’s heavyweight Big 12 basketball showdown between the No. 10 Texas Tech Red Raiders and the No. 4 Houston Cougars at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas, where the three-time Super Bowl champion showed up to support his alma mater. Mahomes, who played three seasons with Texas Tech football before turning pro in 2017, sat next to the Red Raiders bench. It’s hard for viewers at home to miss Mahomes, especially with the attention given to him by ESPN’s coverage. However, many fans were not too thrilled by the quarterback’s broadcast exposure in a basketball game.
With the NFL in offseason mode, Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes has plenty of time to enjoy other sports as a spectator. Just take for example Monday night’s heavyweight Big 12 basketball showdown between the No. 10 Texas Tech Red Raiders and the No. 4 Houston Cougars at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas, where the three-time Super Bowl champion showed up to support his alma mater. Mahomes, who played three seasons with Texas Tech football before turning pro in 2017, sat next to the Red Raiders bench. It’s hard for viewers at home to miss Mahomes, especially with the attention given to him by ESPN’s coverage. However, many fans were not too thrilled by the quarterback’s broadcast exposure in a basketball game.
“Love that instead of the game ESPN is showing close-ups of Patrick Mahomes,” said an X user. From an angry viewer: “Hey @espn I wanna watch Texas Tech and Houston play basketball not [expletive] Patrick Mahomes” “@espn Can we please stop showing [expletive] Pat Mahomes reactions? Show the damn game,” another annoyed fan posted. “Will @espn stop showing P Mahomes during the broadcast!” commented a different social media user. Via another X post: “With the NFL season over I figured I could at least go a few months without having Mahomes shoved down my throat. WRONG. Just trying to watch basketball and yet every dead ball instantly pans to Mahomes”
As for the game itself, the Red Raiders fell short of upsetting Kelvin Sampson’s team again, as they lost this time to Houston, 69-61. It was a payback win for the Cougars, who lost in Houston to Texas Tech on Feb. 1, 82-81. With that defeat, Texas Tech dropped to 21-7 overall and 12-5 in Big 12 play. Nevertheless, the Red Raiders are still on track to make their second Big Dance appearance in a row, as they entered the Houston game seventh in the NET rankings and with six Quadrant 1 victories.
