Ja'Marr Chase refuses to directly acknowledge Patrick Mahomes: 'I'm not saying his name'

The budding AFC rivalry between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs is not going anywhere as long as star Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase has something to say — or not say — about it.

Chase was asked recently in an NFL social media clip about the No. 1 player on the 2024 edition of the league's Top 100 list, a title which unsurprisingly belongs to Patrick Mahomes after the star quarterback and two-time NFL MVP led the Chiefs to back-to-back Super Bowl titles for the first time in 20 years.

"I'm not saying him," Chase said. "I give credit when it's due, but I'm not saying his name. … I'm not saying his name, brother. I'm sorry. Joe Burrow — I'm not saying that guy's name."

Chase seemed to allude not only to a rivalry between the Chiefs and the Bengals, who met in the AFC Championship Game in 2021 (won by Cincinnati) and 2022 (won by Kansas City), but also a budding rivalry between Mahomes and Burrow, the Bengals quarterback who is widely considered one of the best in the NFL — outside of Kansas City.

"He's good. He's amazing," Chase said of Mahomes. "Not gonna lie, I'm salty, though. I'm a little salty. Two years in a row — I'm putting Burrow first."

The animosity between the Chiefs and Bengals took a bit of a back seat last season when Cincinnati fell out of the playoffs after Burrow suffered a season-ending hand injury in a game against the Baltimore Ravens in November. But Burrow — with a flashy new haircut — is now healthy, and his longtime friend and teammate Chase appears set on making sure the tension between their Bengals and the heavyweight Chiefs stays high.

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