KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After trading away Tyreek Hill and watching the AFC West champions load up to try and dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs, the national narrative surrounding the club suggested Patrick Mahomes and company would fall back to the pack.
“Many people thought this was a retooling year. In Kansas City, this is what a rebuilding year looks like right here,” General Manager Brett Veach said, turning to grab and lift the Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl LVII.
The Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which meant the team spent Wednesday parading through downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and celebrating the third Super Bowl title in franchise history with a rally outside Union Station.
“How about it, Kansas City?” CEO and Chairman Clark Hunt said. “You are world champions for the third time.”
Hunt then said he was glad it didn’t take 50 years between Super Bowl titles this time as it did between the Super Bowl IV and Super Bowl LIV championships.
“Heading into training camp, a lot of the so-called experts counted us out,” Hunt said. “They said we were going to take a step back. They said our division was too tough and we’d be lucky to even make the playoffs. But we knew better, this team knew better and, Chiefs Kingdom, you knew better.”
Travis Kelce knew it, too, and Patrick Mahomes apparently predicted it years ago.
Chiefs President Mark Donovan said Mahomes hollered at him from across the locker room after winning the Super Bowl three days ago.
“Mark, do you remember what I told you?” he recalled Mahomes saying.
“What he told me, which I did remember, was that we won the opportunity to bring the NFL Draft to this town, he said, ‘I guarantee one thing: When the whole world is looking at Kansas City, when the whole league is coming to Kansas City, when every team from every franchise is coming to our town, they’re going to be coming to the home of the reigning world champions.’”
The 2023 NFL Draft is set for April 27-29 outside Union Station — the very same place the Chiefs celebrated reaching the NFL summit on Wednesday.
“I am so proud of this team — their heart, their resilience, their fight,” Hunt said.
Perhaps bonded by a world of doubters outside the locker room, Kansas City became greater than the presumed sum of its parts — winning a seventh straight AFC West title, hosting an NFL-record fifth straight AFC Championship Game, reaching the Super Bowl for the third time in four years, and claiming the second title in that span.
“Our roster, our team — I’ve never been around a group of players who were so unselfish,” Veach said.
The Chiefs had 10 rookies play in Super Bowl LVII — including running back Isiah Pacheco and wide receiver Skyy Moore, who scored touchdowns in Kansas City’s 38-35 win Sunday against Philadelphia.
Fans sang “Happy Birthday” as Donovan stepped to the microphone. Hunt had spilled the beans that Donovan was celebrating his 57th birthday at the Chiefs Kingdom Champions Parade.
“My wife is going to have a hard time topping this birthday next year,” he said.
—
