Matthew Merryman, the lawyer for Xaviar "ChiefsAholic" Babudar. Matthew Merryman, the lawyer for Xaviar “ChiefsAholic” Babudar. (WDAF, via PJ Green on Twitter.)
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There’s been a ton of media fascination with the case of Xaviar Michael Babudar. Babudar, known as “ChiefsAholic” around the wolf costume he’s regularly worn to Kansas City Chiefs’ games, was arrested in December 2022 around a bank robbery in Oklahoma. He then skipped out on bail that March and was added to the Kansas City’s Most Wanted list in June. He was arrested by the FBI in July in California, and was indicted on 19 charges in August around six bank robberies across four states, other failed robberies, money laundering, and more.

On Wednesday, Babudar pled guilty to three charges. Those include one count of money laundering, one count of transporting stolen property across state lines and one count of bank robbery. And that could see him face up to 50 years in jail; his sentencing is to come July 10. But what’s drawn the most attention has been the wild football analogies to the press from his lawyer, Matthew Merryman.

Of course, Merryman has been consistent with those football references throughout this saga. But the ones he dropped Wednesday were particularly interesting. Here are some of those, via PJ Green of Kansas City Fox affiliate WDAF:

“From the beginning of this case, folks, the government has been blitzing. And Xaviar’s pocket was collapsing. But today, Xaviar has stepped into the pressure. He took responsibility for his actions. He stood up in court humble and repentant, and admitted what he had done.

“Now, if I know anything about Xaviar, and if the Chiefs Kingdom knows anything about ChiefsAholic, we know that he doesn’t give up. We know that if he stumbled, and he fell, he didn’t let his knee touch the ground. And that’s because he’s capable of doing a great thing.

“He knows that there’s still hope. We still have a lot of work to do on this case, but Xaviar wants everyone to know that he loves Chiefs Kingdom, he loves Kansas City, and he hopes that you’ll rally to his support. Thank you and God bless.”

Sadly, that whole thing did not make it onto the WDAF evening news. But they did get a lot of the good lines in there as part of their segment on this:

That’s certainly an unconventional approach for a lawyer to take when talking to the media around charges of this level of severity. But it’s not new for Merryman. Back when Babudar was hit with the 19 charges last August, Merryman put out quite the statement, including “the fourth quarter of the most important game of Xaviar’s life.”

“The government’s announcement today of its 19-count indictment provides an unfair and unjust portrayal of Xaviar. The truth is that since 2018 Xaviar Babudar, aka ‘ChiefsAholic’ has entertained, inspired, unified, and motivated Kansas Citians, the Chiefs Kingdom, and hundreds of millions of football fans around the globe. It’s now the fourth quarter of the most important game of Xaviar’s life, and his legal team believes his innocence will ultimately be proven to the public and we are confident that once all of the facts are known that he will be redeemed in the eyes of his supporters, admirers, and the Chiefs Kingdom.”

Here’s video of some more of those August comments, via James Dator at SB Nation.

Here’s more on Merryman from the website of his law firm, The Bates And Merryman Law Firm, where he’s a partner:

Matthew T. Merryman is a founding member and partner in The Bates & Merryman Law Firm LLC. Matthew is a native Kansas Citian and a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Matthew earned his law degree from the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. Prior to law school, Matthew worked for the Boy Scouts of America’s Southeast Louisiana Counsel as a District Executive in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Prior to forming The Bates & Merryman Law Firm LLC, Matthew worked for The Justis Law Firm LLC, a boutique environmental firm specializing in CERCLA (“Superfund”) cost recovery and contribution cases. He began his legal practice as an Assistant Public Defender for the State of Missouri as a trial attorney and continued that practice as a solo practitioner handling all levels of criminal cases in State and Federal Courts.

Matthew’s practice focuses on complex white-collar litigation and high level felony matters that include Murder, Sex Offenses, Drug Offenses, Violent Crimes, and Regulatory Violations. Matthew also provides hundreds of hours of pro bono legal services annually in the criminal justice system.

Matthew is a diehard Royals fan, ardent road tripper, and amateur folk artist.

As per those initial August comments from Merryman, Babudar’s innocence was certainly not proven. And he has not been “redeemed” in the usual sense of that word. But Merryman has certainly drawn some attention to himself with these repeated football analogies around the case. And the case has drawn incredible media attention, including a 41–minute ESPN+ SC: Featured documentary:


And Merryman is now adding even more to that media attention.

[PJ Green on Twitter/X]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz