Sometimes it feels like the Kansas City Chiefs are trying to see just how unlikeable they can act without losing fans.
So far, it feels like they’re not even close to the threshold.
Before Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, two Chiefs — Travis Kelce and Patriots draft bust Tyquan Thornton — wore T-shirts that read “Free 4″ with a picture of teammate Rashee Rice (who wears No. 4) as if the suspended receiver was some sort of wrongly punished victim.
Their gesture was stupid, tone-deaf and altogether avoidable for a franchise that has been terrific on the field but despicable off it.”
Rice is serving a six-game suspension from the NFL, but he is free. And he’s fortunate to be.
“On March 30, 2024, Rice was racing a friend on Central Expressway when the Lamborghini he was driving struck the center median wall, officials said. That caused four other vehicles to collide with each other. An arrest affidavit stated that Rice was driving 119 mph before crashing.”
Rice served a 30-day jail sentence after pleading guilty to “causing a collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway, causing bodily injury.”
One victim already successfully sued him for $1 million and other cases are ongoing.
Free 4?
Rice is lucky he didn’t kill anybody driving that fast. Former Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs is serving 3-10 years for killing a 23-year-old woman while he was driving 156 miles per hour. Rice and the Chiefs are lucky the accident he caused wasn’t fatal.
Making a spectacle of supporting him should be an embarrassment, but it’s unclear if the Chiefs are actually capable of shame.
Of all teams, Kansas City should know better than to draw attention to one of their players’ crimes.
But of all teams, the Chiefs know firsthand that those players rarely ever face consequences that befit their misdeeds.
There’s been quite a list that includes Britt Reid, Andy Reid’s son and former assistant coach.
He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to “felony driving while intoxicated resulting in serious physical injury.” The sentence came from a crash that injured six people, including a 5-year-old girl, who suffered a traumatic brain injury. According to ESPN, she spent 11 days in a coma, two months in the hospital and has permanent developmental delays.
It wasn’t Britt Reid’s first issue behind the wheel. He had “previously pleaded guilty to flashing a gun at another motorist in a 2007 incident, and while serving his sentence for that charge, he pleaded guilty to another unrelated charge of driving while under the influence of a controlled substance.”
The Missouri governor, a proudly rabid Chiefs fan, commuted his sentence after 16 months.
Extreme motor vehicle violations aren’t the only abhorrent things Chiefs players have been involved with.
Search on “Chiefs domestic violence” and Google returns a staggering number of players and incidents.
Receiver Xavier Worthy was arrested for felony domestic violence in March. Kansas City practice squad lineman Isaiah Buggs was arrested for domestic violence in 2024.
They’re just the latest. Under Andy Reid, they’ve paid a lot of money to Tyreek Hill, Terrell Suggs, Kareem Hunt and Frank Clark, who each have ugly incidents of domestic violence in their past. There are plenty more going back even further.
“At some point, it’s going to be bad for the Kansas City Chiefs’ bottom line if they keep ignoring domestic violence and if they continue to select players with those kinds of histories,” said Kim Gandy, president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, told USA Today in 2019.
Sadly, reality hasn’t backed her up.
Because face-of-the-franchise Patrick Mahomes seems like a good guy and Andy Reid looks like a friendly middle school gym teacher, the Chiefs don’t engender nearly the national hate that their actions have earned.
They’re long overdue for a comeuppance. Kansas City has started this year 0-2. Maybe Karma finally woke up.
Outtakes from a busy week…
Harrison and Early?
The Red Sox are in trouble.
They have a 1½-game lead in the Wild Card with nine games left. Of Boston’s remaining games, six are on the road and they have three games each against the top two teams in the American League (Toronto and Detroit).
With the Guardians charging forward with the relentlessness of Robert Patrick in Terminator 2, backing into the playoffs seems unlikely for Boston.
That means Kyle Harrison and Connelly Early are going to be pitching the biggest games of their lives this weekend and are lined up to pitch again in the final series against the Tigers.
That’s a lot to ask of two rookies.
Cursed?
Before now, has there ever been a point before where the best player on each of the four Boston sports teams has been injured at the same time?
Jayson Tatum will be out for at least most of this season and probably all of it.
Roman Anthony won’t likely return until the playoffs at the earliest.
Christian Gonzalez might be back soon, but until he takes the field, he qualifies. And as of right now, he’s a better cornerback than Drake Maye is a quarterback.
David Pastrnak is out for the start of Bruins camp.
Real Jeopardy! Clue
Sports clues from actual editions of America’s favorite quiz show. As always, mind the date
CATEGORY: SPORTS THROUGH THE YEARS – $1000
Date: May 20, 2025
Leading off a 1951 game as a pinch-hitter (an unusual move right there),this 3-foot-7 man walked in his only plate appearance
— Answer below
The Top 5
The Top 5 Robert Redford Movies
I’m zagging on No. 5 because I haven’t seen that showing up on many lists. It’s a little dated, but many of the concepts, albeit not the technology, feel relevant today. Add to that an amazing cast and Sneakers makes my list.
5 – Sneakers
4 – The Sting
3 – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2 — The Natural
1 — All The President’s Men
Today in Boston Sports History
Sept. 19
1971 — The Patriots played their first game in Foxborough, a 20-6 win over the Oakland Raiders. Jim Plunkett completed 6-of-15 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
Lightning round
- What were the odds of the Guardians still being in the playoff race after two of their pitchers — including their closer — being place on leave amidst a gambling investigation?
- It feels like every game, every quarter and every throw is a referendum on Drake Maye’s entire career.
- Here’s an idea for award shows. Show less of the performer and more of the people who died during the “In Memorium” segment.
- Marco Sturm has said more interesting things in two days than Joe Sacco did in six months.
Real Jeopardy! Question:
Who is Eddie Gaedel?
Finally…
Happy National Talk Like a Pirate Day to all celebraterrrrrrs.
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