With NFL Training camp set to begin in two weeks, the Super Bowl LVII hangover has ended, and the players are scattered around the world, but it’s time to get back to the business: chasing the Three-Peat.
Since their 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs have been a hot topic for the national and worldwide media. The loving relationship between Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce and the biggest entertainer in the world, Taylor Swift, has only added to their popularity. The Chiefs are a team that the world can’t stop talking about, both on and off the field, and their fans can’t help but feel proud.
Over the past two weeks, quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been on a European vacation that included a golf outing with Kelce and a seat at center court at Wimbledon, ERA’s tour night three (again with Kelce) in Amsterdam, and on Sunday, attending the F1 British Grand Prix back in London.
It’s been a crazy offseason that has touched the cord of every level of the Chiefs Kingdom. As the new “America’s Team,” the Kansas City Chiefs sit atop the NFL, and their fan base is as close to Manchester United as a Futbol team can get.
Yet training camp begins in two weeks, and the quest for the three-peat will hit an all-new gear. Despite winning back-to-back Super Bowls, this team is not resting on its laurels. It is determined to chase the NFL record books, which would make it the greatest NFL champion of all time. Its ambition is truly inspiring.
The Chiefs are attempting to equal Triple Crown Champion Secretariat’s improbable 1973 Horse Racing dash for greatness or the recent mark of Real Madrid of the UEFA when they accomplished the hat trick of titles from 2016-2018. For the record, they were world champions five times in a row from 1956-1960.
There’s a reason it’s so challenging to three-peat in anything in the modern era of sports. The athletes are faster and more robust, the rules favor competition, and no league plays out the ‘Any Given Sunday’ moniker better than the NFL.
The league is designed to gain national prominence for upstarts, just as it allows teams with lesser talent and coaching to win any NFL game. In other words, the Pete Rozelle parody line still lives in the game today.
However, the Chiefs have made four Super Bowl appearances over the last six seasons, winning three of them. Patrick Mahomes is on a run unmatched by any other starting quarterback within that time frame.
Bart Starr, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman, or any new-level NFL quarterbacks chasing Mahomes can compare.
Yet, the Texas Tech product remains the face of the NFL, the team, and the Chiefs Kingdom that adores him. Now, he must lead them back to the promised land. That means he’s back in the States after his European vacation, getting ready for unprecedented media coverage, both good and bad.
Though he’s not alone, Head Coach Andy Reid, who somehow manages his players into a winning mold without sacrificing their personalities, is the true genius of the franchise. On lesser teams, even the Kelce Swift romance would be enough to distract teams with less leadership. In this case, Reid embraces it and wants Kelce to be a great football player without sacrificing his life away from the game.
I want to believe the Chiefs can win three consecutive Super Bowls. Still, if last season indicates the obstacles this team overcame, I can’t think of a reason for them to fail in their unprecedented quest for NFL immortality.
