A Super Bowl for the Ages: The Origin of Journey – I am still basking in the glory!! It won’t wear off until the 2020 draft, because it will be time to get to work. I watched hours of the parade, interviews, story lines, etc. on Tuesday, and now it is time to get to reflecting on the busy-ness. 12 months was a long time to wait for the Championship.
7 months in 2018 was an even longer wait. After the AS11 trade in January 2018, the fears and doubts of a new QB occupied our minds and imaginations, until that first TD pass to Tyreek Hill against the Chargers in Game 1. Mahomes hung tough, fired a bullet, and Hill sprinted to the end zone (Note: go to the 4:35 mark of the video below).
King of the big play.
Every 50+ yard TD from @cheetah's career so far! 🏃♂️💨 pic.twitter.com/7e17F5im45
— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2018
And with that simple act, Mahomes Magic started for most of us.
Maybe for you it was the 2nd half shellacking of the Steelers, the hard fought near win against the Pats, or the score-a-thon against the Rams. Maybe it took longer for the big doubters, when the playoff jinxes were finally broken.
The Journey Starts
For me it truly started with the 2017 draft. I prepared for the draft as usual by watching Draft Day, gathering prepared and compiled draft rankings, mock drafts, Gil Brandt rankings ad nauseum. I ate a large burger, popped a beer and Dr. Pepper, poured a large water, lit a 2 hour cigar with another in the wings, and settled in for the 27th pick. I nearly choked on the cigar when Roger bellowed “the Kansas City Chiefs are on the clock.” Could it be, I thought? Were the Chiefs grabbing a QB? The next 10 minutes were pure exhilaration and angst.
Admittedly I only saw a few Mahomes highlights before the draft, but as a Big 12 fan, I knew enough reading stats, game recaps and watching highlights. The pre-draft babble focused on the failure of Air Raid quarterbacks, but I didn’t care. The interception rate was too high, Mahomes was reckless, the passing yards overstated, can he even take a snap under center… and… the best one, can he speak the NFL secret cryptic language of play calling? Phooey!
Funny thing is, in the midst of all this psycho-babble nonsense, no one asked if Mahomes had a desire to win! LOL. What fools! A QB? No I think we will draft a Trubisky or a Thomas instead. HA!
P.S. – I just remembered one, Mahomes did not have a winning record as a starting quarterback. How did that work out for you there buddy?
P.P.S – “He’s the best player I have ever seen” – Brett Veach
Then…………
“With the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft the Kansas City Chiefs select Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech.”
After screaming, I sat back down, highlighted in each prospect ranking, drank the beer, sipped the Dr. Pepper, and confidently smiled, knowing a new era in Chiefs history was about to begin. I also fidgeted like the dickens since I no longer had anything to do for the next 3 hours! What bliss.
His First Start
Week 17 in Denver, Mahomes started with 2 incomplete passes, then a strike over the middle, over the LB, in front of the Safety, to Demetrius Harris. Pure Ecstasy!! Pat did not have a TD pass, but who cares? The come-from-behind victory against Denver’s 1st teamers was all anyone needed to see. Plus, he did with the 2nd team offense (other than Albert Wilson).
Then Came 2018
2018 ended abruptly. 4” too short or 4” too long. No chance to touch the ball in OT. An antiquated playoff rule that needs to end. Finally, Chiefs fans could believe again, could grasp onto a sense of hope, and daresay dream again. Dreams of the long-awaited Lamar Hunt trophy. Dreams of an elusive Super Bowl trip. Dreams of being Super Bowl Champions. However, all that ended too soon. The disappointment was devastating.
The Year of Years: 2019
The devastation of 2018 haunted this team in a good way. It drove each player to be 4 inches better, to note every detail, to find insignificant ways to get better. The defense was overhauled from players to coaches. Andy Reid darn near overhauled the entire offense playbook, adding even more plays to his notorious and burgeoning notebook (tablet – or where ever they keep the plays these days). Something was different from the get-go of OTA’s and training camp. One could sense a confidence in the air, both from returning players, but also the new ones, like Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu. Later in the season, this confidence transformed into “Championship Swagger.”
In 2018, the team got Mahomes Magic Fever, and rode it hard, firmly believing their young QB was invincible… until he wasn’t. In 2019, the early injuries and dislocated kneecap nearly crushed all Super Bowl dreams… but this team did not fold. Every player stepped up, some off the Practice Squad, bridging the gap in classic “Next Man Up” fashion. Clark proclaimed in training camp “This ain’t last year.” How prophetic.
The Difference Maker
What I noticed most, was not the resiliency that others are talking about — copycats — but it was the mental toughness, the grit, the determination, the overwhelming desire to win. It was missing from past Chiefs teams, in both the 90’s, as well as the Andy years. Bad stuff would happen, and the team would wilt or lose focus, or begin to think “here we go again” or simply could not overcome the adversity.
It changed. A lot of it was Pat. Some of it was Mathieu. Some of it was Clark. Some of it was everyone else who knew they were too close in 2018, but in 2019 it permeated throughout the entire team, to every single player. If one guy got down, he had 4 teammates picking him up. The offense bailed out the defense…. and this time… the defense bailed out the offense. The special teams bailed out both. Regardless, the combined determination, human spirit, and sheer willpower, transformed this team from a Championship Game participant and contender… into Super Bowl LIV Champions!
And… we love them for it. May the fans, all of Chiefs Kingdom, all of AO Kingdom, may the entire team and organization never forget where they came from, never forget all the hard work, and never forget the extra 4 inches it took to be called CHAMPIONS!
Because, I want another in 2020… and 12 months is a long wait!
Time’s yours.
David Perkins — ArrowheadOne
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