Getty Josh Allen (left) and Patrick Mahomes II (right) at Capital One's The Match.
Fresh off his narrow defeat in Las Vegas during Capital One’s The Match, Patrick Mahomes II will make another appearance in the golfing world this summer to compete in the American Century Championship for the second straight year.
Joining him is Kansas City Chiefs teammate Travis Kelce, who confirmed that both he and Mahomes were in Nevada at the Edgewood Tahoe golf course on July 5 with a retweet of actor Miles Teller’s photo that read: “Back at it like we never left!!”
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Josh Allen, Derek Carr Among Celebrities Golfing for Charity
When Mahomes teamed up with AFC rival Josh Allen for The Match, many knew that it wouldn’t be long before friends turned into foes once again. The assumption was that this would occur the next time the pair of quarterbacks took the football field opposite one another in October, but it turns out the ACC tournament will expedite the process.
Allen is a part of this weekend’s celebrity field and joining him is Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller Derek Carr, among others.
An ex-Chiefs quarterback will try his luck as well, former Mahomes mentor Alex Smith. You can find the full list of contestants on the Golf Channel website, which includes big NFL names like Aaron Rodgers, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald, Jerome Bettis, Dwight Freeney, Charles Woodson, Brian Urlacher, Emmitt Smith, Tony Romo, Jerry Rice, Mike Vrabel and many more.
Outside of the football realm, some of the larger stars are Justin Timberlake, Stephen Curry, Charles Barkley, Joe Buck, Nick Jonas, Ray Romano, Jake Owen, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Teller and last year’s champ Vinny Del Negro.
According to the Golf Channel, “the field of more than 80 players features 13 Hall of Famers, 17 Most Valuable Player award winners, multiple Cy Young awards, and Emmy and Grammy winners.”
The ACC tournament winner will earn $125,000, generally donated to a charity of their choice. In total, the event features a purse of $600,000, which will be divvied out based on final standings.
Beginning on Friday, July 8 at 3 p.m. CST, the tourney will be available on Peacock and NBC Sports Digital, as well as the Golf Channel at 6:30 p.m. CST. Over the weekend, NBC Sports and Peacock will air the event from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. CST.
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Biggest 2022 Rival?
Although Carr and the Raiders are within the division — and did add to their roster with Davante Adams and Chandler Jones, as well as a head coaching regime change with Josh McDaniels — Allen and the Buffalo Bills are certainly the greater rivals on paper.
The Chiefs have eliminated the Bills from the NFL playoffs in back-to-back seasons and in 2021, it took one of the wildest fourth-quarter comebacks in recent memory to get the job done. Going one step further, most power rankings and NFL analysts have been ranking Buffalo as the most complete AFC roster right now.
That sets up the AFC east challenger to be one of Kansas City’s main obstacles once again, although the defending conference champion Cincinnati Bengals deserve a mention here too.
Inside the division, the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos should also pose a formidable threat in 2022. Both have bulked up over the offseason with additions like Russell Wilson, J.C. Jackson, Khalil Mack, D.J. Jones and more.