Mariah Carey will prove she is the Queen of Christmas by opening the NFL games on Dec. 25th. Current league champions Kansas City Chiefs will play the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET, followed by a contest between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET. This will be a unique game because it will be held on a Wednesday which is very rare for the NFL.
The pop legend will deliver a rendition of her smash hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” before the start of the first game. Carey is in the middle of her most successful tour to date. Her iconic album, ‘Merry Christmas’ has just turned 30 years old. The lead single, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the highest-ever certified single for a female artist having made it to 16 times platinum status.
We recently reported how Carey has given her accolade, ‘The Queen of Christmas,’ to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ. She explained her view of the situation. “I’m someone who loves Christmas, who happened to be blessed to write ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You.’ And a lot of other Christmas songs. And let’s face it, you know, everybody’s faith is what it is. But to me, Mary is the Queen of Christmas.” Mariah Carey describes herself as a devout Christian.
Mariah Carey described how she ” believe[d] a deep faith was awakened to me that day. I understood on a soul level that no matter what happened to me or around me, something lived inside me that I could always call on. I had something that would guide me through any storm.” She has also released a series of songs which draw inspiration from her faith.
However, some of the players involved have expressed their dissatisfaction with the holiday game schedule. Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for the Chiefs, who was already annoyed about losing two holidays in a row vented his frustration. “It’s not a good feeling,” Mahomes explained to reporters Wednesday. “You never want to play this amount of games in this short of time. It’s not great for your body. But, at the end of the day, it’s your job, your profession. You have to come to work and do it.”
One of his main concerns was how close this game would fall to others his time scheduled to play. Mahomes said he’s never played games so close together. “All you can do is focus on the game. The practice you have that day,” the athlete added. “I try to prepare my body all year long for this stretch. That’s tailoring my workouts, tailoring how you practice and prepare. The star quarterback believes that “And the coaches do a great job of taking care of us on the practice field. We practice as hard as anybody, but they know how to dial it back when needed.”
Wednesday games are rare in the NFL for all the reasons Mahomes has mentioned. The most recent occurrence was in 2020 when the Ravens and Stealers had their game pushed back because of a COVID-19 scare. In 2012, another game was pushed to a Wednesday to accommodate President Barrack Obama’s address to the Democratic National Convention. Before that, the last game played on a Wednesday happened in 1948.
Coach Andy Reid acknowledged how bizarre the situation is. “It’s a unique situation. You just have to manage it,” said The Chiefs coach “It is what it is. You make the best of it.” We explained that the holiday game still has major ramifications for the postseason. While the Chiefs have won their division, they still covet the No.1 seed and the first-round playoff bye that comes with it.