Fans worry about Patrick Mahomes, who hugged Patriots star with positive COVID test
It’s been a busy week for national NFL reporters.
There have been positive COVID-19 tests reported among Patriots, Titans and Raiders players, which is noteworthy in Kansas City because the Chiefs played one of those teams on Monday (New England) and will face another on Sunday (Las Vegas).
Defensive back Stephone Gilmore is the Patriots player who reportedly tested positive and he is going on the Reserved/COVID-19 list.
After the Chiefs’ 26-10 win over the Patriots on Monday, Gilmore greeted and embraced a number of Chiefs players, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Gilmore and Mahomes hugged and walked side by side for a few seconds as this video from Twitter user DWDIII shows:
Mahomes told reporters Wednesday of the interaction with Gilmore: “It was a little bit of a mental lapse. Just trying to show sportsmanship.”
Is there reason for concern if you’re a Chiefs fan? Not according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, defines close contact as being within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from two days before a positive test.
However, the postgame interaction appears to violate the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 Protocols for the 2020 Season. It says: “Home and Away Teams are prohibited from post-game interactions within 6 feet of one another.”
Nevertheless, Chiefs and NFL fans worried about Mahomes based on that postgame interaction.
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 8:23 AM.
