Two former MLB pitchers appeared to be off their rockers during Super Bowl week, but there’s some speculation that it may have been a set-up to promote a rumored celeb boxing match.
Former Braves reliever John Rocker and ex-Met pitcher Patrick Mahomes Sr. – the father to NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes – were recorded getting in a verbal squabble on the streets of New Orleans, with the two having to be separated.
Video showed Mahomes standing outside Willie’s Chicken Shack on Bourbon Street, just a stone’s throw away from the iconic St. Louis Cathedral.
Rocker walked out of the establishment while saying something in Mahomes’ direction and then seemed to extend his hand for a handshake, which Mahomes rebuffed by pushing away the hand.
Mahomes then gestured toward a surprised-looking Rocker and tempers picked up as the two men got between Rocker and Mahomes as the they continued to shout at one other.
An unidentified person repeatedly shouted “Oh s–t” as the situation escalated and in a moment of brevity, another individual asked in shock, “Is that f–king Johnny Rocker?”
Mahomes, a member of the Mets in 1999 and 2000, was eventually pushed away by two men, one in a blue shirt and one in a red baseball cap.
The Post’s requests for comment from Mahomes and Rocker were not immediately responded to, though both addressed the altercation on social media.
“This f–king loser can’t take a damn joke. Wish I laid him out right there and ruined his bulls–t weekend even more,” Rocker wrote on X.
Mahomes fired back.
“You really haven’t changed one bit in the last 25 years. Keep my name out your loud mouth,” Mahomes replied on X, adding in a second post that, “John Rocker is a menace to society.”
Rocker, most remembered for his controversial comments on gays, minorities and immigrants in a December 1999 Sports Illustrated feature, kept the back and forth going by further insulting Mahomes.
“You wouldn’t have had the balls to say that to my face the other night. Lanky ᴀss clown,” Rocker wrote.
He added in a follow-up post: “F–K PATRICK MAHOMES.”
It’s unclear when the incident took place, but it’s believed to have occurred sometime during Super Bowl 2025 week.
It also comes amid a flurry of speculation that Mahomes and Rocker would be taking part in an upcoming Barstool Sports “Rough ‘N’ Rowdy” boxing event, which has led to speculation that the New Orleans incident was nothing more than an attempt to hype up the future event.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy all but confirmed that the two would go toe-to-toe in the ring in an interview published a few days ago with street journalist Adam Glyn.
“I don’t know, that’s why I don’t want the paperwork to get ripped up. I think it is,” Portnoy told Glyn when asked if a Rocker-Mahomes fight was happening. “I believe we have a signed agreement for Mahomes Sr. to fight John Rocker at Rough N Rowdy.”
Portnoy added: “I think it’s 100 percent, but I haven’t seen the signed paperwork yet.”
Mahomes had been in NOLA to watch his son and the rest of the Chiefs attempt at history, but they fell short of becoming the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowl тιтles in a 40-22 loss to the Eagles.
