Kansas City Chiefs showcasing Kansas City artist's work during playoffs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are not only staying busy on the field, but also off of the field.

That includes commissioning the work of a local artist, a 23-year old who’s drawing up not winning plays, but winning pieces.

Grant Gruenhaupt started drawing at age seven.

The Blue Valley Southwest graduate trained in Los Angeles, California, and first caught the Chiefs’ attention for their Arrowhead poster series a few seasons ago.

"They were trying to find local artists to work on posters that would be sold, and then all those profits would go to benefit local charities," Gruenhaupt said. "And so they did a call for artists, one of my buddies referred me for that and I worked on one of the posters and continue to work with them since."

The freelance artist calls the Chiefs a full-time client now.

So, when the quote heard around Kansas City went viral, Grant went to work on a design he started last week, without the ominous specter in the sky.

He also incorporated head coach Andy Reid's quote where he referred to quarterback Patrick Mahomes as the "The Grim Reaper."

"We had a Lamar Hunt Trophy up there, and that was originally the storyline, for four straight AFC Championship appearances, right?" he said.

Exit the trophy, enter the 13 seconds of doom that befell the Buffalo Bills in Sunday's AFC divisional round playoff game, which ended in a 42-36 overtime victory for the Chiefs.

"We did some last second revisions," Gruenhaupt said. "So I spent all of last night trying to turn that around and change the concept. So I'm running on fumes right now."

He was up until 4 a.m., with the final product publishing at 3:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon. He said it was well worth the sleepless night.

"To get to work with a team that you grew up loving, and go into the games, it just it means the world," he said, speaking of a collaborative process with the team's creative and content specialists.

It’s that lifelong love of the team that gives his art the fan’s touch.

"I think being a fan gives me a great advantage when working with the Chiefs," he said. "It allows me to put in details that people wouldn't normally notice if they weren't fans of the Chiefs. You know, if you look at my work, I'm heavily invested in the details."

to see more of Gruenhaupt's work, click here to view his website.