SUPER POWERS
CHIEFS, CRUISE NINERS GAME TITLE TO SPORTS SEE
Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs top Titans to reach Super Bowl for first time in 50 years while Jimmy Garoppolo and Niners KO Packers to earn trip
KANSAS CITY — Arrowhead Stadium rocked to Whitney Houston’s “I Want To Dance With Somebody.” Kansas City fans’ half-century wait to boogie in the Super Bowl is over — in great part due to their quarterback’s magical feet, not to mention his majestic arm.
With his best imitation of a tightrope walker, Patrick Mahomes high-wired the Chiefs into their first Super Bowl since 1970.
Oh sure, Mahomes did his usual superb job passing, but it was his 27-yard tap dance down the left sideline late in the first half that gave the Chiefs their first lead. From there, they outran the run-oriented Ti- tans and star back Derrick Henry for a 35-24 victory Sunday in the AFC championship.
At last, for the third time overall, the Chiefs (14-4) are Super Bowl bound.
In two weeks in Miami, they will play the winner of the NFC title game between Green Bay and San Francisco.
“I mean, it’s amazing. It really is,” Mahomes said. “To be here, to be a part of Chiefs Kingdom and to be able to do it here at Arrowhead, these people deserve it. And, we’re not done yet.”
Adding to the joy of the achievement, coach Andy Reid and owner Clark Hunt accepted the Lamar Hunt Trophy — named after his father — emblematic of the AFC title. It was handed over to them by Chiefs Hall of Famer Bobby Bell, with Mahomes and safety Tyrann Mathieu jumping for joy on the makeshift stage.
Next up: chasing the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“Very excited and very emotional to win the trophy that has my dad’s name on it,” Hunt said. “Yeah, 50 years were too long, but we’re going to another Super Bowl.
“Chiefs Kingdom, we are going to the Super Bowl.”
The Chiefs lost in 1967 in the first AFL-NFL Championship Game — nope, it wasn’t called the Super Bowl yet — to the Lombardi Packers 35-10. Three years later, one year after the Jets shocked Baltimore to lay claim to the AFL being equal to the longestablished NFL, Kansas City was back. This time, it was known as the Super Bowl — indeed, Lamar Hunt is credited with coming up with the name — and his Chiefs hammered Minnesota, 23-7, with the typical Wild West offensive flair and a staunch defense. Those are characteristics that helped carry K.C. this season.
Reid isn’t as animated as Hall of Famer Hank Stram, who famously urged the Chiefs team to “keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys.” Caught up in the moment Sunday, Reid said, “It’s awesome,” before asking the crowd to chant “How about those Chiefs?”
Moments later, standout tight end Travis Kelce proclaimed, “You gotta fight for your right to party.”