Brittany Matthews, fiancee of Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, doesn’t deserve online hate

Brittany Matthews, fiancee of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, doesn’t deserve the hateful attacks she’s faced for spraying champagne on fans following the team’s dramatic overtime win Sunday at GEHA Field.

But Matthews, who is after all a public figure, can’t be too surprised to find that when you invite a response on social media, not every comment that comes back to you will be kind, or even civil.

“I just wish I could do what I want without getting attacked every week,” Matthews wrote this week on Twitter, about the reaction to the viral video of her opening a bottle of champagne and spraying it out the window of her luxury suite at fans.

In her living room, she has every right to expect that. But online, no one is afforded that courtesy. Instead, in the look-at-me social media culture in which Matthews actively participates, trolls will keep right on trolling every little thing the 26-year-old new mom does.

The same goes for Mahomes’ younger brother Jackson, who made headlines for pouring water on a heckling fan after an early season game in Baltimore, and again for dancing on the late Sean Taylor’s memorial before a game against Washington. The younger Mahomes later apologized.

Matthews must understand that as the fiancee of a national star athlete, every move she makes will be scrutinized. She also has her own brand to protect. She owns a fitness company and is part owner of the Kansas City Current women’s professional soccer team.

My message to her is simple: Put down the phone and enjoy the game. Every moment of celebration doesn’t have to become fodder for yahoos on social media.