Chiefs and a History of Hate

Laddie Morse

Let me be perfectly clear at the outset –> I love the Kansas City Chiefs. That said, there has been much made of these Chiefs becoming a villain or of many hating our team. I guess that happens when you win as much as the Chiefs do. When you win so much, many people start calling you a cheater or think the game is fixed. I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth, but it still happens, nevertheless.

From an article written by Anatoly Liberman called, “The Shortest History of Hate: he says,

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“Although hate refers to intense dislike, it is curious to observe how diluted the word has become: today we can hate orange juice, a noisy neighbor, even our own close relative, and of course we hate not finding the objects we have mislaid. For some reason, to dislike, have little regard for, and resent are not enough for expressing our dissatisfaction.”

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If I were to ask you: which team was your most hated team from the 2001 season through the 2018 season? Now, most of you would answer “the New England Patriots” right? Why? Because they appeared “nine times” (yes, that’s a quote ripped off straight from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)… and yes, it was nine (9) times that the Pats appeared in Super Bowls during that span. We were all getting a little tired of seeing them there, for sure. That may be how many NFL fans feel about K.C. now.

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So, while we can understand why some fans might “hate” the Chiefs for winning, the reality is, they consider these Chiefs “Villains.” From an article called, “The History of the Word ‘Villain’” it says,

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“… it’s a Medieval Latin word: villanus. The fact that it’s Medieval Latin matters because although the word villa in classical Latin referred to a large country dwelling, by the time of Late Latin—the 3rd to 6th centuries—the word could also refer more generally to any aggregation of rural dwellings, making it nearly equivalent in meaning to village.”

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So, I guess it does take a “village” when it comes to hate. All joking aside, the word “villain” has it’s origins in the word villa… or… village, and that’s the point here. In another article called, “Etymology of Villain” written by Erin Servais, she says,

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“villain: a character in a story, movie,

etc., who does bad things”

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Bad things? Wow, I had no idea that these Chiefs were doing bad things. On the other hand, I can fully grasp the idea that one team winning so much for so long as the Chiefs have been doing now for the past ten years… is a bad thing (in the eyes of a fan from another city of fans).

While many fans of the Kansas City Chiefs have climbed on board in recent days, months and years, there are those of us who have been here since the 1960s. Many an older Chiefs fan are like myself. However, many of these same “older Chiefs fans” have come to resent the newest fans of the Chiefs, but I do not. However, having grown up outside of L.A. — and once being a Rams fan — I can understand the hatred many folks have for the rivals of the Chiefs. Enough to call them “villains?” Absolutely!

That vile goes both ways these days:

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In an article called, “Why do we say ‘boo?’ The answer might displease you” written by a Clay Thompson he says,

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“It seems to be Scottish in origin, but some trace

it back to a Greek word that meant “to cry aloud,

roar or shout.” And some say boo imitates the

sound of a sad calf. Booing as a sound of

discontent seems to come in to use in the 18^th 

century. Italian opera fans were said to be

voracious boo birds.”

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“A Sad Calf.” Wow, that is sad. However, it’s the word “discontent” that I’d like to focus on here. Why would fans be so discontent? The reason is obvious isn’t it. It stems from their hatred of a foe, or seeing them as the villain of their story. What story you ask? Every human has a story… it just goes different for many.

If you’re a fan of the Steelers it is a very different story than if you are a fan of the Lions. Steelers fans must now face years of ineptitude having once had the best franchise in the NFL having won titles following the seasons of 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005 and 2008. The Lions face years on the rise and having not won a NFL Championship since 1957.

The Kansas City Chiefs? With head coach Andy Reid being the 4th in regular season wins all-time with 283 and QB Patrick Mahomes still being young at 28 years old and TE Travis Kelce leading all Tight End in history with 7 straight 1,000 yard seasons. Here’s the top five head coaches in victories:

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Condensed from ProFootballNetwork – Credit

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Adapted from TAMMY LJUNGBLAD tljungblad@kcstar.com – Photo credit

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Profootballnetwork provides this information above, but they had Bill Belichick as being an active coach as only active coaches are supposed to be listed in italics. Next, we have the top QBs in history listed as the most victories in their first 100 games offered by StatMuse:

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Actually, Mahomes has only started 96 games for the Chiefs. Next, we have the stats for Travis Kelce showing his last 8 seasons including 2023:

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Profootballreference – Photo adaptation

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With Travis Kelce sitting out the last game of the 2023 season vs the Chargers we can assume he’d have reached 1,000 yards this year if he had played. Easily. Plus, the Chiefs have an owner — CEO, Clark Hunt — who is willing to spend his fortunes on his team and that makes for a dangerous combination. Especially when you consider that the Chiefs also have a great staff and a General Manager who is learning as he goes and has become one of the best in the league.

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With so much success in house, it’s hard to see the Chiefs not continuing their winning ways in the coming seasons. Will they be considered villains and be hated more than ever. That’s very, very likely. So, we should get used to it. I know I can get used to more winning!

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Laddie Morse

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EXTRA | EXTRA – (1:12)

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