How ’bout those Chiefs?!

February 7, 2024

Super Bowl Sunday is almost upon us and for the fourth time in 5 years, the Chiefs are playing in the big game. In a crazy year where most people counted them out, Mahomes and company brought out the magic in the playoffs and now have the opportunity to win back-to-back championships. No team has done that since the Patriots in 2003 and 2004. This is the second time they have played in consecutive Super Bowls. The last time is one I want to forget as they lost 31-9 to the Buccaneers in 2021.

It is crazy to me that my hometown team is the team lots of people want to hate. I remember a time when I was tired of seeing Tom Brady and the Patriots win. I rooted against them when they played the Falcons in Super Bowl 51 in 2017. The Chiefs’ continued success has made them the target of animosity but they keep on winning and creating magical moments much like they have over the past five years.

One of the first memories I have connected to the Chiefs was getting Len Dawson’s autograph at training camp. My dad and I went to a lot of games in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The place he worked had season tickets and those tickets were not as in demand in those years.

My earliest memories of being at Arrowhead were the 1977 season. We went to a game around my birthday in December and it was really cold. The Chiefs played the Seahawks. The thing I remember was watching Gary Barbaro intercept a pass in the endzone and run it back 102 yards for a touchdown, which set an NFL record at the time. It still stands as the longest interception return in the Chiefs’ history. They ended up losing the game 34-31 and only won 2 games that season.

Football card from 1981. The KC Police
Department gave these out at the
games and around town.

I suffered through a lot of losing seasons as a Chiefs fan until Marty Schottenheimer gave us hope in the 90’s. Their most successful run was in 1993 when Joe Montana and Marcus Allen joined the team that featured Derek Thomas and Neil Smith on defense. The Chiefs lost to the Bills in the AFC championship game. It was one of the few times under Marty that they progressed past their first game in the playoffs. Those were exciting yet disappointing years.

Another clear memory I have of going to Chiefs games in the 80’s was a fight song that Marv Levy, the head coach, had written. I still remember most of the words and can hear the song in my head. I searched online to see if I could find a mp3 of it but to no avail. I have thought of that song many times over the past five years with the Chiefs’ post-season success.

I have loved watching Patrick Mahomes over the past five years (I only saw him in the AFC championship game in his first season). His ability to make plays happen on the fly is unbelievable. He has been at the center of so many dramatic moments. I could not believe that he came back from that ankle injury and played at the level that he did last year to claim his second title as the Chiefs leader.

To celebrate the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win in 2020, I created a grid experiment that pays homage to Patrick Mahomes.

The Super Bowl win in 2020 came during a very stressful time for our family and the win provided an enjoyable moment amid that trial. I had spent most of the week before that at the hospital with my mother-in-law with my wife at home with pneumonia. I had to take her to a mini-clinic the night of the game and missed watching a good chunk of it. When I got home, the game was late in the third quarter and the Chiefs were behind. But then it happened. The Mahomes magic. The Chiefs came from behind to win the game and claim their second Super Bowl championship in franchise history, fifty years after the first one.

I enjoyed watching the game last year. It was a great and hard-fought game on both sides. Jalen Hurt was phenomenal. But Mahomes and the Chiefs had more magic and pulled it out. It was a nail-biter like a lot of their playoff games. I enjoyed reliving the season and the Super Bowl win by watching The Franchise on YouTube and reading Back on Top.

I hope the Chiefs can win on Sunday. I will be cheering for them. If they don’t win, I just hope it is a close game and not a blowout like it was in 2021. That was one of the most painful sports events that I have ever watched. I would love to see them hoist another trophy after experiencing so many setbacks this year. We never know what Mahomes is going to pull out of the hat and it will be exciting to watch. I am just glad that he is on our team. Go Chiefs!

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