Patrick Mahomes likes to double down. In February, the 27-year-old Kansas City Chiefs quarterback famously managed a ankle injury and a significant halftime deficit, giving him his second Super Bowl win in six seasons. Despite his enormous potential value as a free agent, Mahomes committed himself to the Chiefs for the next decade; his current $503 million contract is the largest in NFL history.
And with crypto, too, the two-time Super Bowl MVP seems to be embracing commitment: while other sports superstars are shying away from associating with the increasingly PR toxic sector, Mahomes finds new ways to delve further into it.
Mahomes announced a collaboration with Azuki this week, and in the words of an NFT holder, he is “Azuki-fied” – meaning his likeness has been turned into a limited edition trading card of the anime style NFT brand.
Never thought I’d see Patrick Mahomes Azuki-fied, but this art is fire-AF 🔥
Cool collaboration that draws more attention to Azuki in a wider sports and collectibles market. pic.twitter.com/3ao56R8WVn
– SteveG. (@SteveG60117) August 21, 2023
The unique card will feature in a series of NFTs created by Azuki in collaboration with Museum of Mahomesa new NFT platform from the star quarterback reportedly set for a whopping release 15,000 NFTs next month.
The partnership between Mahomes and Azuki comes at a curious time for both parties. Mahomes is on the crest of an almost unprecedented wave of mainstream success and worship; Azuki, meanwhile, is trying to get past a disastrous summer in which the brand’s credibility within the crypto community was threatened by a series of unforced errors. In the past two months alone, Azuki’s bottom price has fallen by more than 79% Mint gecko.
Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes launches new NFT collection
And yet, Mahomes is here for the ride. This isn’t the superstar athlete’s first crypto rodeo: the quarterback netted $3.7 million at the height of the NFT craze in early 2021 with its own series of digital collectibles.
He previously supported crypto projects such as VirtualStax, an NFT trading card brand that reportedly claimed to generate $97 billion in revenue within three years despite never releasing any products; the company has since been accused of fraud and deception of investors.
In the wake of the very visible And spectacularly bizarre After the collapse of the FTX last November, there has been a slew of lawsuits aimed at celebrities and professional athletes which promoted the crypto exchange and other supposedly fraudulent crypto companies.
Stars like Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Shaq and Larry David are currently caught up in lawsuits. doesn’t seem to vibrate; suffice it to say that mega celebrities have anything but abandoned projects that prominently contain crypto or crypto-affiliated elements.
Shaq finally filed an FTX lawsuit after months of “running,” lawyers say
But not Mahomes. Despite the potential risks to his gigantic reserves of social and financial capital, the star athlete is diving deeper and deeper. Say what you will about the desirability of such a move, but you can’t deny the man’s grind set.