Sports analyst and former NFL defensive guard Rich Ohrnberger has apologised for recent remarks made about a star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, and his family.
Reports allege that Mr Ohrnberger tweeted on Friday that Mr Mahomes, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, had asked his fiancé and brother to stay away from his NFL games for the following season.
Both were accused of earning too much attention for antics such as dancing and creating viral TikToks, as Sports Illustrated and others reported.
Mr Mahomes has more recently been forced to defend his fiancé, Brittany Matthews, from criticism for her public appearances. She has also referred to comments made about her as being “hysterical”.
Mr Mahomes immediately responded to rumours about his fiancé and brother on Friday and wrote: “Y’all just be making stuff up these days”. The tweet has since received more than 110,000 likes.
TMZ, meanwhile, reported that Mr Mahomes had not had any such word with his family last week, and that he was looking forwarding to them appearing at future NFL games. The report cited “a source” who is familiar with the Chief’s star.
In an apparent apology, Mr Ohrenberger said he would later delete the correction and original thread, which was widely circulated on the social media network.
“I can’t substantiate the information that I tweeted out earlier today regarding Patrick Mahomes and his family,” Mr Ohrnberger reportedly wrote on Friday.
“The source I received this information from was posing as someone I trust. I will delete this tweet today along with the original thread. Please pass this along,” the analyst and former NFL player, according to Sports Illustrated.