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Jeremy WillisESPN.com
Can dreams materialize by talking about them? Can players for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs or Cincinnati Bengals reach the Super Bowl by avowing to these goals?
In the Bible, Mark 11:24 says, “whatever you have asked for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
No less a modern philosopher than Jay-Z said in his book Decoded, “I believe you can speak things into existence.”
Call it the power of positive actions or just wishful thinking. As the NFL heads into championship weekend, most players in the league have probably longed for a trip to the big game. So, if Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes foreshadowed his Super Bowl appearances years in advance or Rams linebacker Von Miller made a big proclamation about his new team, tweeting it into existence is the new way of publicly announcing one’s dreams or predicting success.
According to past tweets gathered with help from Twitter researchers, each remaining team has at least one player trying to tweet a Super Bowl into existence.
Kansas City Chiefs
I bet it feels amazing to be the quarterback who says “I’m going to Disney World” after winning the Super Bowl #Qbs
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) February 6, 2013
Mahomes signaled his future Super Bowl success in 2013. The tweet came three days after the Baltimore Ravens defeated the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. In 2013, Mahomes was a high school junior and more than a year from committing to play football at Texas Tech. The tweet came almost seven years to the day prior to his Super Bowl LIV triumph.
Just four months after Mahomes’ tweet, his teammate tackle Orlando Brown Jr., put his own hopes out there. Brown, whose father played for the Ravens from 2003 to ’05, showed off the Ravens’ most recent piece of jewelry.
“@NFL_Stats: The Ravens Super Bowl ring pic.twitter.com/B8RHwWDCtu” Someday!
— Orlando Brown Jr. (@ZEUS__57) June 8, 2013
Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu got half of his prediction correct. The All-Pro safety, who was with the Arizona Cardinals at the time of his tweet, was recovering from a torn ACL. He signed with the Chiefs in 2019 and has played in the last two Super Bowls. He has yet to win a defensive player of the year award, however.
They sleeping, I actually had a dream I won the super bowl & DPOY in same year, what year? Idk but it’ll happen pic.twitter.com/bHdghdRnYo
— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) March 24, 2016
Cincinnati Bengals
It’s easy to tell that Bengals running back Joe Mixon was watching Super Bowl LIV. He tweeted during the pregame and again after the Chiefs’ victory. Now, Mixon can get closer to that ring by knocking off the reigning AFC champions.
Ahhhhh man I gotta get me a Super Bowl!!!
— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) February 2, 2020
Man I’ll do whatever to get this feeling of being a Super Bowl Champion! And I mean whatever!!
— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) February 3, 2020
Bengals reserve receiver Mike Thomas also tweeted about the Super Bowl. He has not played during the postseason.
I made It Over NBA, NFL Players
So every time I scored it’s like I won the Super Bowl!— Mike Thomas (@_MikeTeee) April 23, 2014
Los Angeles Rams
On the night Miller won Super Bowl MVP honors in the Denver Broncos‘ victory over the Carolina Panthers, All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald shouted out the performance, hoping he’d someday have a chance to dominate in the NFL’s biggest game.
They say defense win championships #SuperBowl
— AD_99 (@AaronDonald97) February 8, 2016
Less than three years from the tweet, Donald was playing in Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots. The Rams lost that one, but he had five tackles in one of the best defensive games in Super Bowl history.
Miller, who dominated in Super Bowl 50, was traded to the Rams in November. With an NFC West division win in hand, Miller tweeted the day after the season ended. The Rams had just blown a 17-point lead to the Niners and lost the last game of the season. Had the Rams won that game, the Niners would have been eliminated from playoff contention.
I said this rams team has more “talent”. I didn’t say this team was better. We won the super bowl in 2015, it obviously doesn’t get any better than that. Hopefully we can do the same with this rams team. 🔷🔶
— Von Miller (@VonMiller) January 10, 2022
San Francisco 49ers
49ers kicker Robbie Gould is actually pretty good at making his prognostications happen, though he’s still looking for a Lombardi. The 39-year-old has been in the league since 2005 and played in two Super Bowls. He lost Super Bowl XLI while playing with the Chicago Bears and Super Bowl LIV with the Niners.
Gould’s first tweet came more than five years after appearing in his first Super Bowl. The second came just a few days after signing with the 49ers in 2012.
Enjoying the last day before the offseason starts …. Super bowl run starts tomorrow
— Robbie Gould (@RobbieGould09) April 15, 2012
Winning a Super Bowl.. That’s the only reason to play the game.
— Robbie Gould (@RobbieGould09) March 15, 2017
Funny enough, both of his Super Bowl losses came in Miami. Now, one win from his third Super Bowl, one played in Los Angeles, maybe a change of coasts will change his fortunes.
