Evolution of a Chiefs Fan

Evolution of a Chiefs Fan – how did you become a Chiefs fan?  Was it Joe Montana, like me? Or was it because the Chiefs were your hometown team?  Was it Lenny Dawson, Otis Taylor, Abner Haynes, or Derrick Thomas? What drew you into the Chiefs Kingdom?

Know what? It doesn’t matter. You’re here, and I dig that about you!

No one asked. No one cares, but, nonetheless, I’ll share my spiel on how I became a Chiefs fan. It’s a long, arduous journey, so I suggest a fresh cup of coffee and an open mind. No judging, people!

Unlike many of you, I am not a lifelong Chiefs fan. I have flummoxed, tripped, and even sinned on my path to Chiefs righteousness, but I’m here now, and that’s all that matters.

Picture the early 1970s. Sunday afternoon. I’m watching a football game with my stepdad, Clarence (best man I’ve ever known). The Minnesota Vikings are playing the Los Angeles Rams. This scrawny Vikings #10 dude is scrambling for his life, while this monstrous Ram dude is bearing down on him. That was the moment that I learned what “like a deer in the headlight” term means. Fran Tarkenton was scared. Heck, I was scared for him. Deacon Jones meant business. That was also the day I fell in love with the NFL and football, starting my path to becoming a Chiefs fan for life.

Sadly, Tarkenton and the Vikings let me down. Three times in the Super Bowl.  However, those losses weren’t the ones that cut the worse. The worse was in the 1975 NFC Championship Game, when Drew Pearson pushed off on Vikings CB Nate Wright to win the game. Also during that game, I learned the next day that Fran Tarkenton’s dad had passed away. That marked the beginning of a healthy, yet festering hatred of the Dallas Cowboys that I harbor heartily to this day.

Fast forward a few years. In 1978, Tarkenton retired. Bereft of a real QB (sorry Tommy Kramer), I searched. I flirted the expansion team Seattle Seahawks, with Jim Zorn and Steve Largent, but it just was not there. I floundered.

Skip ahead again to 1982. My sister, Karla, was a diehard Cowboys fan. I hate the Cowboys. They’re facing the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship. I’ve not followed football for a year or two, so I had no idea who Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, or any of these guys were,but, they are my team because I hate the Cowboys and was not fond of my older sister at the time (she’s an awesome lady, by the way, and I did not mean it).

So, it’ s just she and I watching and she’s bragging about how the Cowboys are going to the Super Bowl… and then… “The Catch” happened.  It was beautiful! I said something to the effect of, “How do you like that _!tch?”

Karla swears that the word began with “b”… I insisted I said “witch.”  It’s a point of contention in our family to this day. (shh… I confess… I said the “b” word)

Joe and the 49ers jammed for the next decade. I joined the Navy, and, suddenly, life happened.  Oh, boy! Women, beer, duties, foreign ports, beer, and women. It all happened. Maybe not in that order, but it all really happened.  Nobody has time for the NFL with all that going on.

Yet, we fast forward again. The year is 1993. I’m being honorably discharged from the Navy, looking forward to civilian life. I’ve got a family now, bills, responsibilities, and the like. I even have an awesome wife and five great boys.  No more Sunday duties. Suddenly, Sundays are mine again. Where’s Joe?

1993, turns out, Joe’s now the Chiefs starting QB. Suddenly, I’m a Chiefs fan. What a fan I was, too. I bought the Chiefs jerseys and assorted gear like nobody’s business. After all, I was a civilian now and actually making money. 

It’s a good feeling.

Joe tried valiantly, yet failed to bring it home for Kansas City. He brought the electricity back. Remember that Monday night shootout with John Elway?

Two years, he gave it his all. Suddenly, Joe was gone. What to do?

After Montana retired, I realized that I was not a football fan, but a quarterback fan. That’s not a real football fan. I vowed to stay a Chiefs fan. The fan base was welcoming, and, besides, Chiefs fans are the coolest in the world.

So, I stayed through miserable years with QBs named Bono, Grbac, Croyle, Thigpen, and Huard. Almost thirty years of watching great Chiefs quarterbacks like Montana, Trent Green, and Alex Smith come close, yet fail.

So… here we are, Chiefs Kingdom. Happy Monthiversarry of the Chiefs Super Bowl LIV victory. I’m so glad I stayed. It was worth the wait.

I’ve purchased a home in Chiefs Kingdom. I have a Honey Badger who collects rent, and an on-the-money quarterback who pays the bills. Go Chiefs!

Michael Travis Rose — ArrowheadOne

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