It’s been cold in New York lately, which has caused me to trot out my go-to skull cap, the one with the soft inner lining that keeps my ears warm. Unfortunately, it’s a Kansas City Chiefs hat, with a big Chiefs logo on the front, and a smaller one on the back.
My wife’s best friend, who hails from Kansas City, gave it to me after the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl of the Patrick Mahomes era, in 2019. Back then, there was no downside to wearing a Chiefs-branded hat, because “Chiefs fatigue” had not yet set in. Football fans weren’t yet sick of the Chiefs winning and winning and winning. They weren’t tired of watching Mahomes perform quarterback miracles in the last minute—and sometimes the last few seconds—of big playoff games. Taylor Swift was still years away from dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, so they weren’t sick of seeing her cheering on her fella from the luxury suites.
Now? I can hardly go anywhere in New York without being accosted by people who are annoyed—no, offended—by the logo on my hat. I see where they are coming from. Since the Mahomes era began, the Chiefs have been in seven consecutive AFC Championship Games, with back-to-back heartbreaking victories over the always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride Buffalo Bills. (Heartbreaking for the Bills, that is.) The Chiefs have played in four Super Bowls since 2019, losing only once, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in what was Tom Brady’s last hurrah. If the Chiefs win today, they will be the first team in history to win three Super Bowls in a row. They are the closest thing to a football dynasty since the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick heyday of the New England Patriots.