Houston Texans cornerback Kris Boyd stunned the NFL audience on Saturday when he threw his helmet and shoved his special teams coach after the first play of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Boyd was able to chase down Chiefs wide receiver Nikko Remgio to stop a potential opening-play touchdown. He stripped the ball loose only for the Chiefs to recover. He couldn’t seem to get his emotions in check and ran to the sideline ripping off his helmet and shoving Frank Ross to the ground.

He talked about the incident after the game.

“I got the ball out,” Boyd said. “And as I’m getting up, I look at the screen, I see nothing but white and they’re all pointing that way. So I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we got the ball, too. Turnover.’ And I was just turnt.”

Boyd thought Houston recovered the fumble. There was also a penalty flag on the field as he was disciplined for removing his helmet.

“I was just too excited, did something that I shouldn’t have done. Learning from it,” Boyd said. “Keep my helmet on.”

TOM BRADY RECEIVES PRAISE FOR OBSERVATION AT CRUCIAL POINT OF LIONS-COMMANDERS PLAYOFF GAME

Miami safety Elijah Campbell and Texans cornerback Kris Boyd get into a shoving match after the Dolphins recovered a fumble at NRG Stadium in Houston, Dec. 15, 2024. (Thomas Shea-Imagn Images)

Boyd said he apologized to the team after the incident and had no ill-will toward Ross.

“He told me, ‘Hey, listen, don’t worry about that,’” Boyd said. “We had a whole ballgame to play, but I was just trying to get my point across. Like I said, I’m not that type of person.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, who didn’t see the shove, denounced the incident.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes hugs Houston Texans cornerback Kris Boyd  after the 2025 AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Jan. 18, 2025. (Denny Medley-Imagn Images)

“What I saw is we can’t come out on the first play and throw our helmet,” Ryans said. “That’s not what we teach. That’s not what we’re about at all.”

The Chiefs won the game 22-14.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS

Adelanto 53, Liberty 41

AGLA 51, Covina 36

Artesia 57, Whittier Christian 45

Bellflower 55, South Pasadena 53

Bernstein 84, LA Wilson 22

Bishop Alemany 89, Valor Academy 25

Bishop Amat 61, Bosco Tech 58

Cajon 66, Redlands East Valley 65

Capistrano Valley Christian 93, Tarbut V’Torah 58

Columbus (FL) 75, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 53

Crespi 71, St. Francis 63

Damien 53, Crean Lutheran 36

Dominguez 75, Maywood Academy 54

Eastside 56, LA Roosevelt 47

El Camino Real 66, Burbank Burroughs 25

Fairmont Prep 60, Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 56

Gardena 60, North Hollywood 51

Gardena Serra 60, Lancaster 53

Harbor Teacher 61, Port of LA 24

Hillcrest Christian d. Beacon Hill, forfeit

Holy Martyrs 63, Buckley 60

Inglewood 84, Anaheim Canyon 75

La Canada 75, Valencia 57

Linfield Christian 57, Hoover 44

Malibu 53, Southwestern Academy 30

Maranatha Christian 52, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 51

Marquez 67, Paramount 57

Maryland School for the Deaf (MD), CSDR 25

Mater Dei 79, Campbell Hall 66

Moreno Valley 56, Heritage 20

Narbonne 62, Gahr 61

Oxnard 66, Palisades 64

Paul VI (VA) 60, St. John Bosco 57

Pilibos 77, Chatsworth 56

Price 64, Providence 52

Rancho Cucamonga 67, Saugus 63

Rancho Verde 63, North Torrance 47

Redondo Union 92, Los Alamitos 75

Rio Hondo Prep 69, Duarte 48

Rolling Hills Prep 59, Etiwanda 44

Sierra Canyon 80, Grayson (GA) 46

Sotomayor 62, Carson 61

Tri-City Christian 51, Paloma Valley 41

Verbum Dei 65, Indian Springs 38

Venice 70, Washington Prep 67

View Park 55, Foshay 43

Village Christian 71, Summit 47

Vistamar 65, Lennox Academy 44

Webb 69, Avalon 39

West Torrance 74, Ocean View 54

Wildwood 50, CAMS 49

Windward 61, Corona Centennial 49

Wiseburn Da Vinci 60, Grant 49

Workman 75, La Serna 57

GIRLS

Anaheim Canyon 49, Norco 9

Arcadia 42, Franklin 29

Birmingham 67, Lynwood 62

Brea Olinda 58, Mira Costa 55

Brentwood 66, Buena Park 39

Camarillo 51, Burbank Burroughs 19

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 64, St. Paul 44

Capistrano Valley Christian 48, San Gabriel Academy 48

Costa Mesa 42, Mayfair 39

Crossroads 51, Wiseburn Da Vinci 33

CSDR 42, Maryland School for the Deaf (MD) 39

Desert Christian Academy 34, La Jolla 26

El Dorado 51, Eastvale Roosevelt 49

El Modena 47, Avalon 10

Fairfax 57, Academy of Academic Excellence 46

Fairmont Prep 68, Newport Pacifica Christian 34

Gardena Serra 77, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 8

JSerra 59, St. Anthony 51

Lakewood St. Joseph 71, Bishop Amat 24

Los Osos 63, Ramona 24

Louisville 48, Highland 47

Marina 55, Irvine University 26

Mary Star of the Sea 26, Paraclete 19

Narbonne 52, Bernstein 26

North Torrance 46, Glendora 40

Northview 59, Los Altos 44

Notre Dame Academy 73, Marymount 21

Orange Lutheran 53, Beckman 40

Palos Verdes 56, Palisades 47

Pioneer 42, Long Beach Poly 40

Rio Mesa 47, Leuzinger 46

Rolling Hills Prep 68, King/Drew 47

Sacred Heart of Jesus 53, Pomona Catholic 15

Sage Hill 60, Brentwood 42

San Clemente 50, Redondo Union 36

Scripps Ranch 75, Beverly Hills 38

Shadow Hills 70, South Pasadena 51

St. Bonaventure 81, Fillmore 25

Ventura 55, Victor Christian Academy 37

Victor Valley 41, Hesperia Christian 40

Vistamar 53, Lennox Academy 4

West Torrance 62, El Segundo 35

“I got this call from Aston Villa asking if I wanted to meet the future King of England at a train station Wetherspoon’s.”

No, this is not a set-up line to a gag, nor a conversation with a large dollop of irony. It happened.

William, Prince of Wales, the next in line to the throne, asked to meet a group of Villa supporters for a midweek pint. It was Steve Jones, the chairman of Chasetown Football Club — a team playing in the Northern Premier League Division One West league, the eighth tier of the English football league system — who was tasked with making it all happen.

Two days after, Jones meets up with The Athletic to recall a Wednesday afternoon like no other. Over a Bulmers cider and for 45 minutes, the prince joined eight other Villa supporters to talk all things Unai Emery, his players and their Champions League run.

Tucking into sausage rolls and drinking coffee, Jones and his friend Darren Johnson, try to reflect on a frantic, disbelieving 72 hours. They are hardened home and away Villa fans, with season tickets in the new ‘Legends Lounge’ at Villa Park, situated between the Trinity Road Stand and Holte End. Jones has sponsored players in the past and before moving seats this season, would sit in lounges where club directors would be.

“I got a call from Villa’s commercial department,” says Jones, 56. “They wanted to know if I was going to the Everton game on Wednesday evening, which I was. They asked if I could meet somebody, but they wouldn’t tell me who at first. ‘Is it the owners?’, I asked. ‘No, it’s royalty and they want you to meet at this place’.

“I knew it could only be one person. Villa asked if I could gather some fans. I decided I would bring my wife, Julie, and son Daniel and the regulars in our lounge. I called each one of them and said, ‘Listen, are you available tomorrow before we go to Everton? I want to meet for a pint. I can’t say why yet, but just trust me’.”

“The dress code was a nightmare,” laughs Johnson, 54. “So we just showed up as if we were going to the football.”

Let’s get the obvious question out of the way — how did all this happen? How did Johnson, Jones and their Villa friends and family end up in the pub with Prince William?

The answer was a combination of fortune and discreet planning. As it happened, the prince’s schedule was fully booked on Wednesday morning. He would be attending the College of Paramedics’ inaugural emergency and critical care conference in Birmingham, making a speech that paid tribute to the country’s paramedics.

Once official duties were over and before returning south, a gap in his diary emerged. William, 42, realised he would have an hour and a half to kill.

An idea came to mind. An understandable one, too — what would be better than a midweek drink talking football?

The prince knew there would be pockets of Villa supporters at the station before heading to Merseyside later that afternoon. His aides contacted Villa, asking if they could arrange a group of supporters to meet him inside Birmingham New Street station and, just tucked round the corner of the entrance, where The London and Northern Western Wetherspoon’s pub was.

Jones, his wife Julie and son Daniel, with Prince William (photo courtesy of Steve Jones)

“He wanted it to be very low-key,” says Jones. “He said, ‘After I’ve done this engagement, I want to meet some Villa fans’.”

Jones was told to arrive at 2.30pm but, with a pet hate for lateness and the small matter of meeting the heir to the throne, he arrived at 1.10pm. No one at the pub, staff or customer, knew about the royal arrival.

“I needed to find a decent table,” he says. “We walked in and it was rammed, but we got to the back where there was space. I started moving tables around so it fitted enough of us. Despite the pub manager saying we couldn’t do it, we put three tables together and with a mish-mash of chairs — like going to your nana’s on Christmas Day. People were asking to use some, but we just put our coats on them.”

Strangely, another group followed Jones and his friends in and began putting tables together. But with the greatest of respect, they were not public house regulars. They chose coffee and tea over beer and dressed smartly, though plain-clothed.

“One of these guys came up to us; they were his protection team,” says Jones. “They were glad we had got there early and chose that table. Every time a customer left, one of them would take over that seat or booth. When William turned up, we had no idea how many plain security people there were. It was very subtle, which was great.

“We asked his team how should we address him. They simply said, ‘He’s off duty, he’s here of his own time, so call him what you want, Will or William’. There was no briefing — we could talk about whatever.”

“He came in and he wasn’t surrounded by loads of security, just one of his aides,” says Johnson. “Bold as brass, he introduced himself, shook everyone’s hand and said, ‘Right, shall we have a round?’.”

Jones, right, and Johnson meet The Athletic two days later (Jacob Tanswell/The Athletic)

Although Prince William only attended his first match at Villa Park in November 2013 — in former owner Randy Lerner’s private box — he has followed the club since his childhood, with his earliest experience as a fan being the FA Cup semi-final win over Bolton Wanderers on penalties at Wembley in 2000.

The Prince makes an effort to watch every game and whenever his schedule permits, will attend in person. On a handful of occasions last season, he and his dignitaries entered the dressing room to wish Emery’s squad well. He is known to most of the players and has been to Bodymoor Heath, Villa’s training campus, to watch practice sessions.

“The first question was why he got involved in Villa,” says Johnson. “He told us that one of the people who looked after him and would take him to school was a Villa fan. They took him to his first game against Bolton. Will said none of the Royals are into football apart from him and his son, George.

“There was never a dull moment or awkward silence throughout. None of his entourage sat with him or tried to listen in. His eyes were always on us, just talking to the table like a normal bloke talking about Villa.

Jones and his son Daniel, talking to the prince (Steve Jones)

“I asked him if he was going to watch the game against Everton later. He said, ‘Yeah, me and George are watching’. I made a joke about whether he would get the remote or whether Kate (his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales) would have the TV that night.

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“George is a Villa fan and we asked about the rest of the children. He said he wouldn’t force a football team onto them as long as it wasn’t Chelsea because all the people around him are Chelsea fans.”

The prince once asked for Jack Grealish’s No 10 shirt, received Christian Benteke’s boots and became close friends with another former Villa forward, John Carew. When Grealish was punched in the second city derby against Birmingham City in 2019, William hand-wrote a supportive letter, addressed to the player’s home. More profoundly, when Stiliyan Petrov, another former Villa captain, had acute leukaemia, The Prince acted similarly.

“He had a vast knowledge of Villa,” says Jones. “We brought up a couple of topics and he was very eloquent. He didn’t have to look up to his aides, he knew everything. We spoke about the recent West Ham game and the changes Emery made in the second half. He started talking about double pivots and how Emery moved Youri Tielemans’ position. We were like ‘What?’.

“He was talking about possible transfers, who might leave and who might come. We spoke about PSR (profit and sustainability rules) and Chelsea selling their women’s team. He admitted he would love to have more opinions on certain things within the game but he can’t in his role as president of the FA.”

Prince William at Villa’s win over Bayern Munich this season (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

As the subject of Villa spindled one way and the other, from PSR to Tielemans’ playmaking abilities, Prince William disclosed one of the more royally guarded secrets: in his spare time, he is a regular contributor to online fan forums.

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“He said he keeps abreast of Villa gossip because he is on all the fans’ forums,” says Jones. “He goes under different names and he posts on there because that’s how he gets the feeling of what’s going on and what’s the opinion.”

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The prince finished his pint and after three-quarters of an hour, an aide, who had been sitting, as Jones puts it, “quite far back” from the Villa huddle, reminded him that his train would be leaving shortly.

He was in no rush, however. Such was the lack of urgency to move and being immersed in conversation, he had to be reminded twice more that his train was swiftly approaching.

“It was a release into normality,” says Johnson. “At the end, he just said, ‘OK, shall we get some photos done?’. Everyone had one on their own before a couple of group photos. Once he left, we had another pint. It was a once-in-a-million lifetimes thing.”

(Top photo: Steve Jones)

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