LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 07: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs off the field after the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on January 07, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
A certain NFL coach could land himself in some hot water with the league following a comment he just made about Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Antonio Pierce, who was recently appointed as the new head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after a successful spell as an interim HC, had to watch Mahomes and his teammates lift the Lombardi Trophy at his team’s Allegiant Stadium. Add that to the already ongoing Chiefs-Raiders rivalry, and you can understand why he’s bitter.
Speaking in a recent interview on Maxx Crosby’s ‘The Rush’ podcast, Pierce suggested the Raiders will be treating Mahomes the way the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons treated Michael Jordan before he started on his championship streak.
“We’ve got the Jordan rules and we’ve got what I’m calling now, from now on as long as I’m here, the Patrick Mahomes rules. We gotta knock off the head of the snake. Fifteen,” the Raiders coach said.
Of course, every other coach is probably thinking the same, yet no one has said this out loud.
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio reckons the comment could get Pierce in trouble as he recalled that the NFL threatened to suspend defensive tackle Gerard Warren after he said something similar about Ben Roethlisberger back when he was a rookie in 2004.
“The NFL saw the comment and issued a warning to the Browns,” Florio wrote.
The Raiders could be hearing from the league in the aftermath of coach Antonio Pierce's comments about getting physical with Patrick Mahomes. https://t.co/S2gwzxetys
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 20, 2024
There’s also the case of former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who suggested that if you “kill the head, the body will die.” He ended up getting suspended for a year, with the rest of the team also getting hit with sanctions.
The NFL is particularly concerned with keeping quarterbacks protected. Such a statement from the new HC might not sit well.
