On the back of rumors that they’re set to fight each other in an amateur boxing match, former baseball stars John Rocker and Pat Mahomes Sr have been seen confronting each other outside a Bourbon Street bar in New Orleans.
Mahomes Sr was in town to watch his son, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, play in Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles – a game the Chiefs ultimately lost.
In a video which appears to have been taken sometime during Super Bowl week, Mahomes Sr and Rocker were seen confronting each other in the street.
The two appeared to try physically attacking each other before being separated by bystanders. One person appeared to recognize Rocker.
As Mahomes Sr. got pulled away, Rocker tossed his cup full of ice at him before walking off.
This video emerges in the aftermath of an exclusive report from DailyMail.com that Rocker and Mahomes Sr are set to fight each other at one of Barstool Sports’ ‘Rough N’ Rowdy’ promotions.
Ex-MLB pitchers John Rocker (L) and Pat Mahomes Sr (R) were seen in a confrontation
Mahomes Sr (seen with son Patrick Mahomes (R)) is set to fight Rocker in a boxing match
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has revealed Mahomes Sr is set for a boxing fight
Mahomes Sr was arrested for driving while intoxicated back in February last year in Texas
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy appeared to confirm that a fight between the two former rival pitchers was in the works.
When asked whether the rumor of the 54-year-old Mahomes Sr fighting was true, Portnoy said: ‘That’s a factual rumor.’
He was then quizzed on the 50-year-old Rocker, adding: ‘Yeah, so you’re on it with your rumors.’
He was then asked if the fight was official, revealing: ‘I don’t know, that’s why I don’t want it to get ripped up. I think it is! I believe we have a signed agreement for Mahomes Sr to fight John Rocker at Rough N Rowdy.
‘I think it’s 100%, but I haven’t seen the signed paperwork yet.’
Rocker and Mahomes Sr were members of rival teams in the 1999 and 2000 seasons – with Rocker on the Braves and Mahomes Sr on the Mets.
Mahomes Sr last played baseball in 2003 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but in recent times has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
He was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 2008, 2019 and 2024, and last year was banned from driving after being found on the roads without a valid license.
He spent 10 days in jail and is now under ‘intense supervision’ in his first year of probation.
Rocker (seen in 2000) is known for making controversial racist and homophobic comments
Mets fans protest at the 7 train station outside Shea Stadium before a game in June of 2000
Rocker is known for his controversies as well. In a 1999 interview with Jeff Pearlman of Sports Illustrated, Rocker made a series of racist and homophobic statements in a highly-publicized and discussed interview.
Rocker, who was with the Atlanta Braves at the time, called Curacaoan teammate Randall Simon a ‘fat monkey’ and used racial stereotypes toward Asian women driving on the road.
When asked by Pearlman if he’d ever play for the New York Yankees or the New York Mets, Rocker gave an infamous quote calling it ‘the most hectic, nerve-wracking city’ and that he’d retire before playing there.
‘Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark (Shea Stadium, former home of the Mets) looking like you’re riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It’s depressing.
Rocker added, ‘The biggest thing I don’t like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?’
MLB commissioner Bud Selig suspended Rocker without pay for the entirety of spring training – as well as the first 28 games of the 2000 season. After an appeal, the in-season suspension was reduced to 14 games.
Rocker’s comments didn’t go over well with Mets fans – with whom Rocker already had a contentious relationship. Elsewhere in Pearlman’s piece, the pitcher referred to Mets fans as ‘degenerates’.
In addition to his controversial comments – both made in the Pearlman piece and in multiple instances years later – Rocker admitted to using steroids during his career, saying, ‘Yeah, of course I was [using steroids]. I mean who wasn’t? Let’s be honest here, who wasn’t?’
Since retiring, Rocker (L) has made multiple appearances on reality TV (seen in Survivor)
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback’s father will fight Rocker at Barstool’s Rough N’ Rowdy
Mahomes Sr was spotted throughout the week in and around New Orleans before the Big Game.
He was spotted in a casino in the city on Thursday night, alongside his ex-wife Randi and his son Jackson, who himself has been embroiled in legal issues.
In March last year, Jackson was sentenced to six months’ probation after pleading guilty to battery of a waiter at a Kansas restaurant in February 2023.
In the case, more serious charges of aggravated sexual battery were dropped after the alleged victim – the owner of the restaurant – failed to cooperate and refused to testify in the case.
The woman later reported that she had endured death threats and had her restaurant vandalized. In August 2023, she closed the restaurant.
