by The Chiefs superstar went viral after appearing to leave the Super Bowl trophy with a fan during Wednesday’s parade.
Was it real or fake? That’s the question surrounding a video of Patrick Mahomes that went viral this week after it appeared to show the Chiefs quarterback leaving the Lombardi Trophy with a fan after taking a photo during Wednesday’s championship parade.
Well, as it turns out, Mahomes’ apparent mistake was actually nothing more than the two-time Super Bowl champion and MVP being responsible and returning a very well-made Lombardi replica to its rightful owner. Or, at least, that’s according to a man named Vinnie Garofalo, the fan who apparently got the most expensive handoff of Mahomes’ career.
Appearing in an interview with Kansas City’s Sports Radio 610 on Friday, Garofalo described his interaction with Mahomes and revealed that he gave the reigning NFL MVP a fake version of the coveted trophy before taking the photo.
“I came to the first parade (in 2020) with the same trophy — it’s a replica, by the way — he never gave me the real one,” Garofalo said during an appearance on Fescoe in the morning.
Garofalo went on to explain that Mahomes actually took the copy, which included a sticker of the Chiefs logo on the front, on two separate occasions — both of which were recorded in separate videos. He also noted that the viral video picks up right before the final exchange, which shows Mahomes handing him the trophy before walking away.
“All I’m thinking is, ‘Get this trophy in my hands somehow, some way,'” he said. “I get pretty hopeful when I see him walking on my side of the barricade. I scream like a teenage girl on a Backstreet Boys concert (to get his attention).”
Garofalo continued, “He takes the trophy, holds it up, walks around, gives me a smile. Then he comes back, asks for the trophy again, walks away, gives it to (wide receiver) Kadarius Toney. They mess around with it, he comes back, I ask him for a picture, he graciously waited for me to fumble around with my phone for a front-facing camera. Took the picture, gave me the trophy, for everyone to see, and went on his merry way.”
With the mystery now apparently solved, it appears Mahomes is now off the hook, thanks to Garofalo’s account. But even if the story turns out to be true, the viral exchange will live on as another moment for Mahomes to cap off an all-time season.
