While Joe Burrow was powering the Cincinnati Bengals to a victory over the Dallas Cowboys, unknown men broke into his house, hundreds of miles away in Ohio. This is the third instance in two months that the homes of NFL stars have been broken into. On October 6, Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes’ house were burglarized.
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Pat McAfee highlighted the cases, as well as the ones of two NBA players, to emphasize the need for players to be vigilant as they are often away from their homes. And, since they are star athletes, criminals would know when they are out of town playing. During Tuesday night’s Pat McAfee Show, the former Colts punter said he suspects the involvement of a gang.
“This happened to Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes. This happened to two NBA guys. There’s people in and allegedly being tied to some gang I believe,” said McAfee.
The two NBA players mentioned by McAfee are Mike Conley Jr., a Minnesota Timberwolves guard, and Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks. Both lost jewelry and prized possessions when their homes were hit by burglars. Notably, both were away from home at the time of the crime.
Concerned with the increased number of attacks on players’ homes, the NFL has issued a security bulletin to the teams, confirming that the thieves “appear to exploit team schedules to target athletes’ homes on game days”.
McAfee said the players should be concerned since a similar pattern has emerged in the crimes.
“They are watching you. They are learning your family schedule. Whenever they know you’re out of town for a game, they’re hitting it via second-floor balconies and it’s like, boom bang bang. They have completely assessed the whole situation,” he said.
McAfee also gave a “shoutout” to model Olivia Ponton and her mom, who called 911 after noticing a “shattered bedroom window”. Olivia, who was at Burrow’s home at the time, had initially called her mom.
“Shoutout to the girl in the house for figuring out what to do. Shoutout to the mom also, who called the police. I assume that the Cincinnati police got there quickly.”
After the December 10 burglary, Burrow is expected to tighten up the security of his $7.5M Ohio home.
However, the Bengals QB will also have to refocus quickly on the NFL. Cincinnati face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in a must-win clash, with the current odds projecting only a 1.9 percent chance for them to make the playoffs.
