Patrick Mahomes gave social media a fresh moment to obsess over Sunday night, and it all started with a tiny bottle and a bad angle.
Just before Kansas City’s kickoff against the Colts, cameras caught Mahomes tipping back a drink that looked pale and slightly yellow under the lights. That was enough to send fans into instant detective mode, with one clip racing across X captioned, “Patrick Mahomes chugging vodka before the game 😭.”
The reaction was immediate. One fan wrote, “Im so happy I wasnt the only one who saw this and went, ‘Wait..is that??’
😂😂” Another jumped in with the correct answer right away: “That’s def pickle juice.” Others weren’t buying the vodka theory either, including one who said, “That’s not vodka…”
The mystery didn’t last long. Reporting after the broadcast confirmed the bottle held pickle juice, not alcohol.
It’s a familiar move for Kansas City’s medical and performance staff, and it’s been part of the Chiefs’ pregame routine for years under Andy Reid. Around the NFL, pickle juice has a reputation as a cramp-prevention trick because of its high sodium content, which is meant to help players avoid muscle issues during a physical game.
Mahomes has explained the practice before, and teammates have been spotted drinking it on the sideline as well. Still, the camera angle and lighting made Sunday’s scene easy to misread. Pickle juice can look a lot like clear or pale spirits under bright locker room lights, and that was enough to fuel a few wild theories before the truth came out.
One fan even joked, “His dad is a bad influence,” while the broader conversation played out across X. Mahomes has already turned up in a few viral clips this season, including one where he lost his composure over a reporter’s ringtone and another unexpected camera angle. This one just added another strange visual to the pile before the internet got its answer.
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