John Rocker in the ring versus Patrick Mahomes Sr.? Sure, why not?
A ton of storylines led up to and proceeded the Super Bowl a few weekends ago. As you saw, the Chiefs were denied the NFL’s first three-peat after a thorough ass whooping at the hands of the Eagles, whose front four harassed Patrick Mahomes all game, while their offense turned mistakes into points on their way to a 40-22 victory. Taylor Swift got booed, much to her surprise. Travis Kelce was a sad boy all game. Kendrick Lamar buried Drake’s career and reputation into the Earth’s core. You know the headlines.
What you might not have known, until about a week ago, was that Patrick Mahomes Sr. and John Rocker, yes, John Rocker, had a heated confrontation on Bourbon Street, followed by a Twitter (X) spat, followed by a confirmed Rough N’ Rowdy Barstool fight scheduled for April 18th.
Here are the important details to know about this hilarious feud that I couldn’t be more invested in.
Getting to Know the Fighters
John Rocker, 50
MLB Career:
1998-2003 (ATL, CLE, TEX, TBD)
13-22, 3.42 ERA, 132 ERA+, 88 SV
Measurements:
6’4”, 210 lb (definitely 240-250 nowadays)
Patrick Mahomes Sr., 54
MLB Career:
1992-2003 (MIN, NYM, BOS, TEX, CHC, PIT)
42-39, 5.47 ERA, 84 ERA+
Measurements:
6’1”, 175 lb (seems to be about the same today)
Rocker is known for his run of excellence as the Atlanta Braves’ closer, which was accentuated (probably overshadowed) by his bad boy persona on the mound. He made headlines when he gave an interview to Sports Illustrated in the 1999 offseason, highlighting his, uh, “issues” with New York Mets fans, as well as New York in general. He was labeled a bigot and his career started to spiral a year or so after, which was also due to injuries. He bounced around after being traded from Atlanta to Cleveland in the middle of the 2001 season, and was out of the Majors after 2003.
Rocker was a contestant on Survivor in 2014 and now does some occasional conservative political commentary, and is said to be part of the inspiration behind the protagonist of the show Eastbound and Down, Kenny Powers (Danny McBride). He's a wild man on X, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Pat Mahomes didn’t have the peaks John Rocker enjoyed during his career, but was able to stick around much longer. He played for a ton of teams in the States and spent two seasons playing in Japan for the Yokohama BayStars. His best season, now this is important, came in 1999, when he went 8-0 with a 3.68 ERA as a relief pitcher for…the Mets. You better believe he and his teammates felt a certain way about Rocker’s antics on and off the field. These two have likely never been best buds.
Apart from the success of his son, the elder Mahomes has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons since he retired. He’s been busted for several DWIs and had to spend 10 days in jail late last year. He is currently serving a five-year probation term.
Ok. The table’s been set. You know enough backstory on each of these…interesting…fellows.
What Happened
Here is the inciting incident from Super Bowl weekend in New Orleans:
From my eyes, it would appear like Pat Mahomes is shootin’ the breeze with a few friends of his on Bourbon Street. It’s clearly not a good night for him after the shellacking he just saw his son take. John Rocker, recognizing Pat, struts out of a bar looking, I wouldn’t say soused, but perhaps buzzed. He seems congenial at first, saying “Pat! What’s up, dude?” Mahomes wasn’t having any of that, swatting Rocker’s hand away, saying something aggressive, and escalating the situation. Rocker then escalated it further, stalking around trying to get closer to Pat and getting more upset by the second.
We then cut to two unassuming ladies knocking back some of New Orleans’s famous hand grenades in those signature green tubes. Now, back to the action.
Rocker flings his drink at Mahomes’s feet. You hear someone yell, “Is that fuckin’ Johnny Rocker?!” Mahomes and his companions leave the street and Rocker does as well, I assume back to the bar he came from. He’ll be needing a new drink.
Annnnnd scene!
What a spectacle. All the world’s a stage. Each of these ex-MLB hurlers took to social media once this video started circulating. Here are some of their best tweets:
FIGHT!
Barstool and Dave Portnoy wasted no time attempting to capitalize on this situation by offering each a chance to duke it out in Rough N’ Rowdy, Barstool’s recurring amateur boxing event. Apparently, they each signed the contract, and the fight will take place on the 18th of April.
Patrick Mahomes (the Chiefs QB) is not a fan of Barstool in general, and is supposedly trying to convince his dad to not take the fight. So far, it's on. Dave Portnoy even invited him to sit ringside, free of charge.
I think I'm taking Rocker in this one, just due to pure size, strength, and, I would imagine, an acute willingness to win at all costs. What happens on Bourbon Street doesn't always stay on Bourbon Street.
Rocker seems ready...
I wonder if hard rock will have bets.