KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vinnie Garofalo has been a Kansas City Chiefs fan practically his whole life, and he’s got the Starter jacket to prove it.
Born in New York City, his fandom started with one player.
“Who does Joe Montana play for?" Garofalo asked his dad as a kid.
He had been traded to the Chiefs.
"I said 'Okay, that’s my team.' And 30 seasons later, here I am," Garofalo said.
Now he owns Casey’s Black Rock, a Chiefs bar in Buffalo, New York. So this week, he’s behind enemy lines.
“There are few fan bases that can match their intensity and it makes for a fun environment at the bar when the two teams play each other. I’ll tell you that,” he shared.
But the Chiefs haven't always been as successful as in recent years. Garofalo said one moment has made the pain of losing worth while.
“When Damien Williams found the end zone at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, it washed it all away. I literally turned to my wife and said, 'I have a parade to go to,'" Garofalo said. "I got in my buddy’s car, drove 16 hours, I brought the Lombardi trophy with me, I took it to the Lamar Hunt statue at the stadium, I got a good night sleep and I had probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my life that following morning.”
For those wondering, yes he sells Buffalo wings at Casey’s Black Rock and he’s anticipating a huge crowd on Sundays for years to come.
“Win, lose or draw, watching these two teams year in and year out, the renaissance of young quarterbacks and teams with rich history like the Chiefs and the Bills, it’s great,” Garofalo said. “I watch these games and I feel like I lost a little bit of myself each week and I think that’s what being a fan is all about. I’m invested, Bills fans are invested, other Chiefs fans are invested. This is what the games are played for.”
