Patrick Mahomes’ broken helmet ‘did its job,’ helmet company says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Gray News) – Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ helmet broke during Saturday’s wild-card game against the Miami Dolphins, and the helmet company says that while it was ‘not ideal’ the helmet ‘did its job protecting’ Mahomes.

During the third quarter, Mahomes scrambled toward the end zone when he hit Dolphins safety DeShon Elliot. The hit broke off a chunk of the shell of Mahomes’ helmet.

“That was ridiculous,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said during this week’s episode of his New Heights podcast. “I had never seen that ever in my life. I’m looking at this guy telling me the play and I’m like looking through his helmet at the skin on his head. I’m just like, ‘You’re not allowed to play with this.’”

Mahomes continued playing two plays with the cracked helmet before officials made him replace it.

The Kelce brothers explained how difficult it is to change helmets in the middle of the game.

Eagles center Jason Kelce warms his helmet up before putting his on, saying Mahomes’ replacement had to have been rock hard in the sub-zero conditions.

“While outer shell damage is not ideal, the ZERO2 helmet did its job of protecting Patrick Mahomes during a head-to-head impact in unprecedented cold temperatures,” VICIS said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

VICIS added that “extreme conditions” like those experienced during Saturday’s game are “bound to test the limits of even the highest performing products.”

“I’m sure it had to do with it being really cold,” Mahomes said. “I didn’t know what happened in the moment but I got in the huddle and everybody was telling me.”