The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the first time in a half-century, and though it must feel good for Chiefs fans to return to the big game, those who are rooting for the Chiefs presumably are hungry for more. Even those people without a rooting interest on either side will likely want to pick a team to cheer for tomorrow on Sunday Bowl Sunday, and we're going to cover here why that choice should land on the Chiefs.
49ers fans will understandably ignore these reasons, but we've also come up with some reasons why you should root for their team, too. Here's why everyone who wants to, if they don't already have a rooting interest in the Super Bowl, should jump on the Chiefs bandwagon.
1. A new fan base can finally celebrate a Super Bowl win
Yes, I know the Chiefs defeated the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. But that was 50 years ago, less than a year after Chiefs Super Bowl fan Paul Rudd, who was in the locker room following Kansas City's win over the Titans, was born. Since that time, Chiefs fans have had to watch Miami, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, and New York host a slew of victory parades while they patiently waited for their turn to throw a party. Kansas City fans started the party shortly after defeating the Titans in the AFC title game. They're hoping to finish it with a parade and the Lombardi Trophy serving as master of ceremony.
Not only have Chiefs fans not won a Super Bowl in a half century, they have also been victim to some of the most heartbreaking defeats in NFL playoff history, defeats that include several painful home losses. But despite those losses as well as their team's championship drought, Chiefs fans have remained one of the most passionate and loyal fan bases in professional sports. They should be rewarded with a Super Bowl celebration.
2. A ring for Andy Reid
Seeing longtime NFL head coach Andy Reid hoist a Lombardi Trophy is a big reason why fans should be rooting for the Chiefs on Super Bowl Sunday. Last week, in light of Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson's Hall of Fame induction announcements, I listed 10 current head coaches and their current odds at one day joining Cowher and Johnson in Canton. Reid, who has now led two different franchises to the Super Bowl, was placed in the "most likely in" category, right under Patriots coach Bill Belichick (the only Hall of Fame "lock" on the list) and next to Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin and Seattle's Pete Carroll. While the AFC Championship Game win may already be enough to put Reid's career in Canton, a Super Bowl win would eliminate any doubt regarding Reid's Hall of Fame future.
But beyond what a Super Bowl win would mean for his legacy, seeing Reid celebrate their AFC championship, praising his players, staff and Hunt family for their role in the win while also explaining what handing the Lamar Hunt Trophy to the Hunt family meant to him, how can you not root to see Reid to hoist a Lombardi Trophy in Miami? After watching the Chiefs' AFC championship postgame celebration, and the outpouring of support for Reid, it's easy to see why he may be the Super Bowl's biggest sentimental favorite since John Elway ended his championship quest with a victory in Super Bowl XXXII.
3. Patrick Mahomes
Like Reid, Mahomes was on my list last week, but for a somewhat different reason. A week ago, I wrote about how Mahomes getting to a Super Bowl may the official start of his time as the NFL's best quarterback presiding over the NFL's best team. While that is still true, it's not the main reason why Mahomes continues to be No. 3 on my list.
Thirty-five years ago, a young quarterback named Dan Marino led his Dolphins to the Super Bowl in his second season as an NFL starter. While he had his moments, Marino was unable to lead Miami past Joe Montana and the 49ers, who capped off an 18-1 season by routing the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX, 38-16. He didn't know it at the time, but that would be the last time Marino would play on pro football's biggest stage; he would ultimately leave the game with the tag as the greatest quarterback in NFL history not to win a Super Bowl.
On Sunday, fans watched Aaron Rodgers, who will be fitted for a gold jacket five years after he retires, lose his third consecutive NFC title game. Two weeks earlier, fans watched Drew Brees, the NFL's all-time leader in career passing yards and touchdown passes, suffer an upset loss to the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs. And while "only" winning one Super Bowl may affect their legacies to a degree, at least Rodgers and Brees have a ring, something that Philip Rivers, who is the best active NFL quarterback without a ring, cannot claim.
The recent playoff losses of Rodgers' Packers and Brees' Saints is also a reminder of how hard it is to win a Super Bowl. While Mahomes is young and his team is littered with talent, that doesn't always guarantee future trip to the Super Bowl. Mahomes and the Chiefs may go onto play in the next three Super Bowls for all we know, but, based on recent history, it's a legitimate possibility that Feb. 2 may go down as Mahomes' best chance to win a Super Bowl -- and allow him to avoid the tag of "best quarterback of this era never to win a Super Bowl."
4. The Hunt family
While receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy was certainly a special moment for the Hunt family, winning the Lombardi Trophy would be icing on the cake for a family that hasn't hoisted it since Lamar Hunt did it himself in January of 1970.
The Hunt family has owned the Chiefs since Lamar Hunt founded the franchise in 1960. Hunt was also the principle founder of the American Football League, which also opened its doors in 1960. Seven years later, Hunt's Chiefs, the AFL Champions, would face the NFL champion Packers in the "AFL-NFL Championship Game." Two years later, after watching his children play with a "Super Ball," he coined the phrase Super Bowl, which was used for the first time during the Jets' upset of the NFL champion Colts in Super Bowl III. A year later, Hunt's Chiefs defeated the Vikings in Super Bowl IV, the final game before the AFL-NFL merger. Because of Hunt's influence on growth of professional football, the AFC Championship trophy has been named in his honor.
Though the Packers fell one win short of giving us a Super Bowl I rematch, seeing Clark Hunt (Lamar Hunt's son and the Chiefs' acting chairman/CEO) hoist the Lombardi Trophy would certainly be a fitting end to the NFL's centennial season.
5. Historical significance
Several fan bases will undoubtedly be cheering for the Chiefs to win Super Bowl LIV. But it doesn't have much, if anything, to do with wanting to see the Hunt family, Reid, Mahomes or any other Chiefs player lift the Lombardi Trophy. It has everything to do with the fact that, with a win over the Chiefs, the 49ers would become the third team in NFL history to win six Super Bowl titles.
Given their current place in the Lombardi Trophy pecking order, rest assured that Steelers and Patriots fans will be cheering against the 49ers and for the Chiefs on Feb 2. You'd also be hard pressed to find many fans in Dallas, Green Bay and New York who will be cheering for the 49ers. Not only is San Francisco an NFC foe, another Super Bowl win by the 49ers would further distance themselves from the Packers and Giants, who are currently tied with four Lombardi Trophies. The Cowboys and 49ers are currently tied with five Super Bowl wins apiece, a statement Cowboys fans hope remains factual when Super Bowl LIV comes to an end.
