Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes holds the trophy as he celebrates his team's Super Bowl LVII win against the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, 2023 ( AFP / Timothy A. Clary)

False claim Patrick Mahomes failed NFL drug test spreads online

This article is more than one year old.
Published on February 15, 2023 at 21:04
2 min read
By Natalie WADE, AFP USA

Social media posts say Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be investigated by the National Football League (NFL) over a positive test for performance enhancing drugs following the Super Bowl. This is false; the NFL refuted the claim, and the source of the rumor is an account that regularly posts satirical content.

"#BREAKING: Chiefs Super Bowl legitimacy put on hold as NFL plans to launch an investigation on possible PED use by Patrick Mahomes during halftime," says a February 12, 2023 tweet with more than 11,900 likes. "Sources confirm his rapid postgame drug test came back POSITIVE and if guilty the Chiefs could be stripped of the win," it goes on to claim.

Screenshot of a tweet taken February 15, 2023

Screenshots of the post were shared across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Despite aggravating an old injury at the end of the first half, Mahomes led the Chiefs to victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 Super Bowl.

But not long after, fabricated claims suggested the team could be stripped of their win and alleged Mahomes failed a test for "PED" (performance-enhancing drugs).

"This is absolutely false," chief NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told AFP in an email.

Under the organization's performance-enhancing substances policy, "five players on each team were tested after being randomly selected by a computer system and program overseen by a jointly appointed administrator," McCarthy said.

"Patrick was not one of the Chiefs selected to be tested," he said.

Satirical account

The Twitter account from which the rumor originated offers no reputable source for its accusations.

It regularly shares satirical sports-related tweets -- although its profile description does not bear a satire label.

The profile biography claims the user is an "esteemed sports journalist & Patriots Beat Writer," and uses the logo of the Boston Globe as its header image. The paper has no staff member named Simon Charles listed in their newsroom directory.

Through a reverse image search, AFP also discovered that the user's profile picture can be found on a stock photo website.

Screenshot of a Twitter profile taken February 15, 2023

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