Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid made sure that his players didn’t make the same mistake in Super Bowl LVII that a Cincinnati Bengals player made in Super Bowl LVI last year.
When the Bengals played the Los Angeles Rams last year, Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson created some controversy by staying on the sidelines during halftime so he could watch the halftime show.
McPherson staying on the field to watch the half time show is awesome haha pic.twitter.com/Nhp3RDMMJG
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) February 14, 2022
It’s not like there’s much a kicker needs to hear at halftime, but McPherson still should’ve been with his team during the biggest game of his life.
Bengals special teams coach Darrin Simmons, in fact, made it clear last year that he wasn’t thrilled about McPherson’s decision to not join the rest of the team in the locker room.
“That’s a sore subject,” said Simmons last March (via The Athletic). “That’s a real sore subject.”
Reid wasn’t about to deal with the same scenario in Super Bowl LVII. So he made sure to tell his team that no one was allowed to stay on the field at halftime to watch Rihanna’s halftime performance.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes revealed to Jimmy Kimmel this week what Reid told the team.
Andy Reid threatened to bench anyone who stayed on the sidelines for the halftime show😂 pic.twitter.com/ByuyQxxFo3
— Sports Highlights (@sports__vids) February 16, 2023
“Coach Reid told us ‘if you go out to watch the performance just keep walking because you’re not playing the rest of the game’,” said Mahomes.
Reid might have saved a couple of Chiefs players from public embarrassment. Though the way Kansas City was locked in, I’m not sure the halftime show was even a blip on the radar for them.
