Patrick Mahomes has once again divided the internet with the release of a new sneakers design for his partnership with Adidas.
The 27-year-old Kansas City Chiefs quarterback released a special edition colorway design in February to honor his daughter Sterling Skye's second birthday and it was called out as being the "worst shoes I've ever seen" by some fans.
The NFL star is now promoting new sneakers to coincide with the beginning of the Major League Baseball season and it is a nod to the Kansas Royals, who play at the Kauffman Stadium, just a pitch away from the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes, whose father was an MLB star with the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins among others, almost went down the baseball route himself before choosing to concentrate on football when at college.
To honor the Royals, the new colorway sneakers from Adidas are royal blue in color and also in name.
Posting a pic of him keeping in shape during the NFL offseason while wearing a pair of the new shoes, Mahomes posted on Instagram: "Royal Blue 80 [crown, baseball emojis]. A new season starts today on the other side of the parking lot. Mahomes 1 'Blue 80' colorway out now."
This was followed by Adidas announcing that the sneakers were available now, with a series of photos of the new shoe along with the caption: "Bluuuue Eightyyy!
"New season means a new colorway. The Mahomes 1 'Blue 80' colorway is out now [crown emoji]."
While the view of the new sneakers is not so vitriolic compared to the previous design, it still divided opinion, with some absolutely loving the new incarnation while others were not so keen.
Among the dissenters was one Instagram user who said: "These are just god awful."
While another asked why there was no colorway for the team he played for, commenting: "Everything but a damn chiefs colorway hahahahah."
There was also an outpouring of love for the new design among his fans, who took to the comments on the Instagram post to let Mahomes know how much they were adoring the new shoe.
One person was loving the crossover with the MLB team and said: "I love this color way and support for the Royals!!!!!! Happy Opening Day Royals!!!!! [blue heart emojis]."
Another added: "Love that color. They are [fire emoji]."
Unfortunately for the Royals, the sneakers didn't prove to be a good luck charm for the opening day of the baseball season.
The Kansas team were beaten 2-0 by the Twins but have the chance to put that defeat behind them when they face the same team again on Friday night.
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Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
