Last night was a magical night 50 years in the making.
The Kansas City Chiefs ended their half-century long drought of winning the Super Bowl with a 31-20 come from behind win over the San Francisco 49ers. One thing I’m taking from the 2019 NFL postseason is this. You can’t keep Patrick Mahomes down.
Twice before the Chiefs were behind in the playoffs, by 24 to Houston and 11 to Tennessee. Eventually the Chiefs woke up and when they did, they never relinquished the lead. That divisional game against the Texans was crazy. It was nice though not to see New England in the Super Bowl, even better to see them one and some. Even the best teams fall.
This Super Bowl is not just for Patrick Mahomes, Tyrann Matthieu, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Andy Reid. It’s for the ones who never got to experience holding the Lombardi trophy.
Derrick Thomas (RIP) who spent 11 years terrorizing opposing teams’ quarterbacks. An automobile accident cut short his career and his life at 33 in February 2000. One of the greatest linebackers and defensive players of all time.
Tony Gonzalez, one of the best tight ends in the game, played 12 years with the Chiefs and five with the Falcons. A basketball player in college, Gonzalez transitioned to football and had a stellar career. He is now on FOX’s pregame show with Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Jimmy Johnson, and Terry Bradshaw.
Last but not least, Marty Schottenheimer. Canonsburg’s own, Marty always came up short during his long coaching career with Cleveland, Kansas City, and San Diego (I don’t count that one year in Washington). So many disheartening playoff losses including two in his Browns career to Denver (one more to the Broncos in 1997 with the Chiefs). The Colts loss in 1995 was hurtful too. The closest Marty got to the Super Bowl was the 1993 season when they faced Buffalo. Overall, Schottenheimer was 5-14 in his playoff career with no Super Bowl.
Congratulations to Andy Reid for finally winning the big one himself and ending the long championship drought in Kansas City. I’ll be highlighting him tomorrow and talking about how my life has gotten better since 2013 (Reid’s first year in KC).
Stylish 🍒 