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Heading into the 2024 Super Bowl, one thing’s certain – Patrick Mahomes will always defend his “dad bod”.

The Kansas City Chiefs player poked fun at his figure after a shirtless still of him surfaced online. On 31 January, Inside the NFL took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to post a video from the Chiefs’ locker room after the team beat the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship. The footage showed coach Andy Reid telling his team, “We’re not finished” before the camera panned to a topless Mahomes, who added: “Great job today. Like I’ve been saying, we ain’t done yet.”

In response to the X post of him without a shirt, Mahomes wrote: “Yoooo why they have to do me like that!?!?!? #DadBodSZN.”

“Like I got kids,” he added in a follow-up tweet.

Other X users praised Mahomes, as well as Jason Kelce, for “doing more for dad bods than anyone in history”. Earlier in the month, an image of the 36-year-old Kelce brother went viral as he was pictured screaming shirtless in the stands among Buffalo Bills fans while watching his brother play.

Next to the picture, one fan commented: “This is the ideal male body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.”

“Jason Kelce and Patrick Mahomes have officially declared it to be Dad Bod Summer. I am not mad about it,” an enamored woman remarked.

Another man told Mahomes: “Hey you’re an inspiration to dad-bods like me everywhere, no shame!”

“Peak male physique dads appreciate your contribution to our collective lack of six pack abs,” another remarked.

Mahomes shares Sterling Skye, his two-year-old daughter, and Patrick “Bronze” Lavon, his one-year-old son, with his wife, Brittany Mahomes. The NFL quarterback proposed to Brittany in 2020, two years before they tied the knot. By 2021, they had welcomed their first child together.

After the birth of Sterling Skye, Mahomes admitted he adored being a father. In conversation with People, he said: “I’ve grown a lot in my first few years in the NFL, and I’ve had to take on a lot of responsibility.”

“But nothing’s like having a kid and having someone that you’re going every single day knowing that you’re trying to take care of,” he continued.

While his focus and priority are centered around his family, the professional athlete is now gearing up to play in the biggest game of the year on 11 February. Mahomes, and the Chiefs, will face off against the San Francisco 49ers, playing in the championship for the second year in a row.