Kansas City basks in Super Bowl title
KANSAS CITY, MO. >> Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and All-pro tight end Travis Kelce promised thousands of fans celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl championship Wednesday that the team will be back for more.
During a boisterous victory rally at downtown’s Union Station after a parade, Mahomes and Kelce joked about “experts” who predicted the just- concluded NFL season would be a rebuilding year for the Chiefs, who defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 on Sunday.
“We’re back again, we’re back again,” Mahomes, the NFL’S regular season and Super Bowl MVP, told thousands of cheering fans clad in the Chiefs’ red and gold.
“When we started this season the AFC West said we were rebuilding,” Mahomes said. “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know what rebuilding means. In our rebuilding year, we’re world champs, we’re world champs.”
Kelce noted that some “haters” predicted the Chiefs wouldn’t even make the playoffs.
“In all reality, this was this best season of my life,” Kelce said. “I owe it to (the fans), I owe it to the guys on this stage, I owe it to everybody in Chiefs Kingdom and the organization we’ve been able to create.”
Celebrating his second Super Bowl win with the Chiefs, coach Andy Reid told the crowd that “there’s no place you’d rather be, and no greater place to be than right here, baby. ... Not very often are you’re able to say you’re the greatest team in the world, you have the greatest players in the world, have the greatest organization in the world and, most of all, the greatest fans in the world.”
The rally festivities wrapped up a day that began with some fans who slept overnight to get a prime spot downtown to celebrate the Chiefs’ second Super Bowl championship in four NFL seasons.
Players, coaches, team officials, family members and others rode doubledecker buses past legions of fans, sometimes standing up to 10 deep, as the parade rolled down a main downtown street on the way to the Union Station rally.
Many players got off the buses to dance, sign autographs, take selfies and occasionally hand out beers to supporters along the route. Some lucky fans were able to touch the Lombardi Trophy, which denoted the Chiefs’ win.
Most schools, many businesses and some government offices in the Kansas City metro area were closed to allow fans to enjoy the festivities. Most were in good spirits while waiting in long lines for food trucks, merchandise trucks and, of course, portable toilets.
Police did not immediately report any major problems during the event.
After decades of championship drought, the city is gaining experience with victory parades. Four seasons ago, the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers for the team’s first Super Bowl championship in 50 years. That followed the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series in 2015, the city’s first baseball championship in 30 years.
Shellie Diehl, 46, of Kansas City, was seated about a block from Union Station, joined by her 8-year- old daughter, Skyler; 16-yearold daughter, Taylor; and a friend. Diehl said she came to the Chiefs parade in 2020 and decided to have mother- daughter time on Wednesday while celebrating Skyler’s first parade.
“The last one was so much fun, we decided we had to come to this one,” Diehl said. “We’re big Chiefs fans, and we wanted to celebrate a great day with the community.”
Some fans admitted that Kansas City might be getting a little spoiled.
“Kind of getting used to it, but that’s OK,” said Liz Barber, 50, of Shawnee, Kansas. “It is good.”
“We had a 50- yeardrought, so it’s about time we had our own dynasty,” said David Cordray, 38, of Kansas City.
Bears buy property for potential stadium
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILL.>> The Chicago Bears have bought the property they’ve been sizing up for a new enclosed stadium in suburban Arlington Heights.
The Bears announced that they paid $197.2 million for the 326-acre plot. The team cautioned, however, that the purchase doesn’t mean plans for a new stadium and an entertainment district will come to fruition.
“There is still a tremendous amount of due diligence work to be done to determine if constructing an enclosed state- of-theart stadium and multi-purpose entertainment district is feasible,” the Bears said in a statement.
Soldier Field on Chicago’s lakefront has been the Bears’ home since 1971. The team played at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970.
Woods among new Saints assistants
METAIRIE, LA.>> The New Orleans Saints hired Joe Woods as defensive coordinator and Todd Grantham as defensive line coach. Saints coach Dennis Allen also added secondary coach Marcus Robertson, tight ends coach Clancy Barone and assistant offensive line coach Kevin Carberry.
Woods spent the past three seasons as the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator and has spent the past 19 years of his career coaching in the NFL, including five as a coordinator. In New Orleans, he joins a unit already overseen and called during games by Allen.