Mayor Jabroni: Cincinnati’s Aftab Pureval Apologizes After Facing Backlash From Kansas City Chiefs and Fans
- In a viral tweet, the Indian-Tibetan mayor taunted the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of their AFC Championship game with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval has finally apologized after facing backlash for a viral tweet taunting the Kansas City Chiefs. The Indian-Tibetan’s home team, Cincinnati Bengals, lost the AFC championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-20, on Jan. 29. The Chiefs will now face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, Feb. 12.
It all began on Jan. 27, after Prevail raised the Cincinnati Bengals flag in front of City Hall. In a proclamation, he referred to Chief’s home, GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium as “Burrowhead” Stadium. He also called into question Mahomes’ paternity, and took shots at the name “Kansas City.”
A short time later, he offered an apology. “Bengals nation, Lol. I hear you. My competitive juices and love for Cincy got the best of me. My bad. Staying hungry and humble.
Despite that, he was on the receiving end of the ire from fans. “He was booed by Bengals fans at a tailgate gathering and roundly criticized by fans for what they called an unnecessary and unappealing remark,” as reported by WLWT5.
Immediately after the Jan. 29 game, he acknowledged that he deserved all the taunting going his way.
The tweet came just hours after Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce mocked Pureval while holding the Lamar Hunt Trophy in front of Chiefs fans. Borrowing from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s time with WWE, he said: “I got some wise words for that Cincinnati mayor: Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni.”
In another interview with CBS’ Tracy Wolfson, Kelce again taunted Prevail, yelling: “Burrowhead my a**. It’s Mahomes’ house.”
Even Patrick Mahomes chimed in. In his postgame press conference, the Chiefs quarterback said the mayor “came” at him. “I understand he’s the mayor of Cincinnati, so he has to think about something, but I mean, it’s something, it’s … you gotta play a football game and let your play do the talking.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas called Pureval “a good man” in a tweet about a fundraising challenge between the two and added after the game, “ain’t nobody saying anything else.”
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid also mentioned the Cincinnati mayor in his postgame press conference. “Their mayor said it all,” he told reporters. “I’m glad our mayor did what he did. Some people heard it.”