Patrick Mahomes’ dad arrest intensifies Super Bowl 2024 spotlight

NFL

By Mark Cannizzaro

Let’s set the elephant in the room aside for the moment.

Taylor Swift may or may not (hint: she will) be inside an Allegiant Stadium suite proudly wearing her Travis Kelce gear rooting her beau on in Super Bowl 2024.

We’ll hear and read enough about that as the week progresses, a play-by-play on her progress from her concert in Japan to make kickoff.

With that storyline tabled for the moment, here’s a look at 10 other storylines to the week.

Patrick speaking for Patrick Sr.

Super Bowl media day takes place Monday at Allegiant Stadium and it’s an annual circus.

Adding to the circus is the fact that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ father, Patrick, was reportedly arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to the Kansas City Star. If convicted, it would be his third such offense.

Because Super Bowl media day has become so much more than about football, Mahomes is sure to be peppered with questions about his father and not the game.

Mahomes’ father also faced DUI charges in 1994 after getting into a one-car accident and was he was arrested and charged with public intoxication during a 2016 matchup between TCU and Texas Tech, his son’s alma mater.

Mahomes Sr. earlier this week told CNN he was planning to be in attendance for the Super Bowl, saying of his son: “To compete at the highest level is something that is rare and very special. For him to have the amount of success that he’s had this early on in his career is just surreal.”

Bet on it

Gambling was once taboo in the NFL and in all U.S. sports leagues. Now it’s not only encouraged, it’s constantly jammed down our throats.

The Super Bowl, even before gambling became legalized, is the most bet on sporting event in the world.

There will be every prop bet possible available, from how long the national anthem will be to how many no-look passes Patrick Mahomes throws to what time Swift makes it to the stadium from her concert Saturday night in Tokyo.

Ready to start your Super Bowl 2024 betting?

NFL employees, all of whom are forbidden from betting on games, are also not allowed to even enter sportsbooks.

The 49ers are two-point favorites to win the game.

End zone envy

The Super Bowl matchup represents the worst nightmare for the hometown Raiders.

The 49ers have been the Raiders’ hated rival and nemesis dating back to when they played in the Bay Area before moving to Las Vegas.

And the Chiefs have owned the Raiders’ division, the AFC West, for a long time, with the Raiders having had little success.

Now, the team logos for the 49ers and Chiefs will be burned into the Allegiant Stadium end zone grass for the game.

Either way, one of the Raiders’ most staunch rivals will celebrate a Super Bowl championship on their home turf.

Surely, Raiders owner Mark Davis will have some pangs of heartburn and envy as he watches the game from his private suite.

Viva Las Vegas

It’s not often that the site of the Super Bowl is a big story, but in this case, Las Vegas will own almost as much of the spotlight as the 49ers and Chiefs.

It’s been an entertainment capital for a long time and is now morphing into a sports capital with the NFL and NHL already having teams there and MLB moving the Oakland A’s there.

There was a recent Formula 1 race there, the NFL draft has been there and college basketball’s Final Four will be played there in 2028.

“Dynasty’’ and “GOAT’’

The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the past five years and can become champions for the third time in that span.

They can also become the first NFL team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the Patriots did it in 2004-05. That puts the Chiefs in the “dynasty’’ conversation should they win Sunday, and it will also thrust Mahomes into the “GOAT’’ category with former New England quarterback Tom Brady (seven Super Bowl titles).

Talk of whether these Chiefs are better than those Patriots and whether Mahomes is better than Brady will surface.

Family affair

Cool story. The last time the 49ers won the Super Bowl was January 1995 when Mike Shanahan was their offensive coordinator and Ed McCaffrey as a one of their wide receivers.

Fast forward 29 years and now Mike Shanahan’s son, Kyle, is the 49ers head coach and Ed’s son, Christian, is one of the 49ers’ most dynamic offensive weapons as a dual-threat pass-catching running back who has scored in each of his six career playoff games.

Don’t forget the WAGs

Swift isn’t the only wife or girlfriend in the spotlight this week.

Kristin Juszczyk, the wife of 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, has become known for her designing of NFL team-themed garb that Swift has worn to the games.

Her profile and design business are exploding. McCaffrey’s fiancé, Olivia Culpo, was Miss Universe 2012 and has 5.4 million Instagram followers.

Rematch and revenge

The 49ers are hoping to avenge their Super Bowl loss four years ago to the Chiefs, when they held a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead and let it slip away in a bitter 31-20 loss.

The 49ers are a different team with a more dependable quarterback in Brock Purdy instead of Jimmy Garoppolo, who Shanahan never seemed to completely trust, and McCaffrey, who wasn’t on that team.

Speaking of redemption, Shanahan was the Falcons offensive coordinator when the Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit to win Super Bowl LI.

Tight race

Which team has the best tight end? This is a tough one, because Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and San Francisco’s George Kittle are both engines that make their respective offenses go.

Kelce had 93 receptions for 984 yards and five TDs in the regular season and has 23 catches for 262 yards and three TDs in three postseason games.

Kittle caught 65 passes for 1,020 yards and six TDs in the regular season and has six for 108 yards and a TD in two playoff games.

“Big Red’’ and his “nuggies’’

Kansas City head coach Andy Reid, who has become as much of a commercial success as a coaching success, is one of 10 coaches with two Super Bowl titles — a group that includes legends such as Tom Landry, Vince Lombardi and Don Shula.

With a third Super Bowl, Reid would join the rarefied air that includes these coaches who have won three or more: Bill Belichick, Chuck Noll, Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh. If he wins this one, would Reid, as he approaches his 66th birthday, walk off into retirement?