Listen, those English teachers who spent all that time drilling punctuation usage into you? Well, they didn't do it for no reason, and NFL star Patrick Mahomes is learning the hard way how much grammar matters!
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback had people on X, aka Twitter, chuckling after a grammar error in his post about New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers' disastrous Achilles injury gave it a very different meaning.
Following the injury, which has abruptly ended Rodgers' first season with the Jets just weeks into the NFL season, Mahomes took to X to share his sympathy—except he forgot an all-important comma, which turned his message into one that made it appear he hates Rodgers' guts. Oops.
Commas matter— Jomboy Media (@Jomboy Media) 1694480556
Mahomes quickly edited the post, which now reads:
"Hate that, man... Praying for the best."
But when first posted, it read "Hate that man..." which, of course, has a VERY different meaning. See? Your teachers were really onto something!
Mahomes followed up his tweet with another, light-heartedly addressing the mishap that will surely have English teachers all over the country feeling validated.
Knew i was going to need that edit button on here one of these days \ud83e\udd23— Patrick Mahomes II (@Patrick Mahomes II) 1694480250
He wrote:
"Knew i was going to need that edit button on here one of these days"
Mahomes is the NFL's reigning Super Bowl MVP, but Rodgers is, of course, no slouch—he's one of the most legendary NFL players of all time, and his serious injury this week has left the NFL and football fans wincing.
This mishap occurred Monday night just minutes into the match-up between the Jets and Buffalo Bills when Rodgers was sacked during a play and went down awkwardly on his left leg.
A close up of the play on which Aaron Rodgers\u2019 calf reverberates, and he winds up with what the Jets now believe is an Achilles injury, via @ACLrecoveryCLUB:— Adam Schefter (@Adam Schefter) 1694495420
On social media, Mahomes' mishap at least provided a moment of levity for football fans upset to see one of the league's greatest players down for the count.
@JomboyMedia That\u2019s amazing. I hope teachers use this as a great example of punctuation. Too funny \ud83d\ude02— BlueyAnon (@BlueyAnon) 1694480968
@JomboyMedia Let\u2019s eat grandma!\n\nLet\u2019s eat, grandma!— Freedom (@Freedom) 1694481236
@PatrickMahomes :)— Chris Robinson (@Chris Robinson) 1694480605
@PatrickMahomes Commas matter \ud83d\ude02— Ima Sentient (@Ima Sentient) 1694480356
@PatrickMahomes Laughing at Rodgers injury is crazy Patrick— \ud835\uddf2\ud835\ude01\ud835\uddfb\u00b9\ud83d\udc06 (@\ud835\uddf2\ud835\ude01\ud835\uddfb\u00b9\ud83d\udc06) 1694480289
@PatrickMahomes commas make the world go \u2018round \ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23— EJ Aguado (@EJ Aguado) 1694480478
@JomboyMedia Freudian slip? PR team made him change it.— Erin the Tiny Irish RN (@Erin the Tiny Irish RN) 1694482195
@PatrickMahomes we see you, Patrick! \ud83d\ude0f— Tom \ud83d\udc56 (@Tom \ud83d\udc56) 1694482651
@JomboyMedia— Diego Casan (@Diego Casan) 1694502282
Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh has since confirmed that an MRI has shown that Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon during the sack and will require surgery, taking him out of the game for the rest of the season.