It all started with a friendly wager between Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez and former Royals and current Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brett Phillips (who hails from Seminole, Florida).
From MLB.com (full article here):
If Phillips’ Bucs won, Perez would wear a Tampa Bay jersey to batting practice when the Royals and Rays met for their April series at Kauffman Stadium. If Perez’s Chiefs won — led by quarterback and Royals part-owner Patrick Mahomes — Phillips would have to wear a Kansas City jersey.
We all know what happened in Super Bowl LV — so on Monday, staying true to the wager, Perez wore a Tom Brady jersey, and the Royals social team tweeted out a video of Perez, captioning “Sometimes words speak louder than actions.”
Perez turned to the camera and called Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes “the best” — despite his Bucs gear.
Brady responded on Tuesday, writing, “Nahhh I think actions always speak louder than words.”
Mahomes fired back less than an hour later.
Of course, Mahomes has some work to do.
As it stands, Brady has seven titles to Mahomes’ one. But the Chiefs quarterback — at the age of 25 — has time on his side. Mahomes has gone on record in saying he wants to follow the Brady model of playing into his 40s, which would give him about 20 years in which to work.
It is a tall task, but you have to appreciate the confidence and swagger it takes to throw it out there — even in a joking manner.