Chiefs dynasty timeline: How lovable losers turned an evil empire of Taylor Swift followers and referee fortune

Thousands and thousands of American televisions will present fixed pictures of Taylor Swift and doubtlessly President Donald Trump on Sunday, with a historic soccer recreation occurring in between. 

When Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs take the sphere on the Caesars Superdome for Tremendous Bowl LIX, they would be the first gamers in NFL historical past to play in a 3rd straight Tremendous Bowl after profitable the final two. 

They’re at present 1.5-point favorites to develop into the primary crew ever to win three straight. In the event that they do win, it might be their fourth in an period relationship again to 2020 and fifth all-time. 

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They might be a part of the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots as the one groups with a minimum of 5 Tremendous Bowls. 

They usually’re doing it because the crew with the most important following on TikTok and YouTube, as Swift’s relationship with Kelce has catapulted the franchise right into a popular culture phenomenon. 

Nevertheless, many NFL followers have had it with the Chiefs. 

The fixed pictures and conversations involving Swift, a rising historical past of controversial referee choices and the final animosity that follows any crew that wins an excessive amount of has made the Chiefs the NFL’s “villain.”

How did they get right here? 

New Yr’s, 2012

On Dec. 30, 2012, the then-defending Tremendous Bowl champion New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 42-7. Andy Reid was fired as Eagles head coach the very subsequent day, on New Yr’s Eve. 

Reid was booted out of Philadelphia after a 14-year stint that included loads of wins however none within the Tremendous Bowl. He was dubbed one of many NFL’s most beloved coaches, however by way of championships, he was only a lovable loser. 

All of it got here crashing down on him after his son, Garrett Reid, died the earlier August. 

However the coach wasted no time getting again to work. He was employed because the Chiefs’ head coach simply in the future after getting fired by the Eagles – the primary day of 2013.

That day, the Chiefs franchise modified perpetually.

The 2013 Draft: Travis Kelce’s Massive Break

The Chiefs have been one of many solely groups to have a worse season than the Eagles in 2012. In consequence, Kansas Metropolis had the primary decide within the 2013 NFL Draft. 

Reid’s very first draft as Chiefs coach noticed the franchise take offensive deal with Eric Fisher with the primary decide. Nevertheless, probably the most consequential decide for the Chiefs that draft did not come till the third spherical, after they chosen Kelce, a mid-round tight finish prospect out of the College of Cincinnati. 

At the moment, the notion that Kelce might develop into one of the vital achieved tight ends in NFL historical past and boyfriend to Swift was a pipe dream at finest. He was an underdog from a blue-collar Ohio household and missed out on an entire yr of faculty soccer after getting suspended by his personal program for utilizing marijuana. 

On his podcast “New Heights,” Kelce as soon as talked about that his marijuana-induced suspension was questioned by scouts when he tried out on the 2013 NFL mix.

“On the mix, I had some unhealthy interviews,” Kelce mentioned. “The [Dallas] Cowboys, they have been form of urgent me about having this crimson flag of lacking a yr.”

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However Kelce mentioned he had a assured message prepared for any of the groups that wished to make use of it in opposition to him. 

“I principally simply mentioned, ‘When you guys suppose I am gonna be that form of man, otherwise you’re questioning if I am nonetheless that individual after every part that I’ve battled via to get to the place I’m now from lacking a season, then you definately guys (ought to) in all probability go some other place and decide someone else.'”

The Chiefs’ choice to miss Kelce’s marijuana previous and draft him anyway modified every part. 

It modified every part for the franchise as an entire in the long term, each on and off the sphere. 

The 2013 Season: An Instant Tradition Shift

Reid and Kelce’s first season in Kansas Metropolis marked an instantaneous turnaround from the franchise’s disastrous 2012. Reid set a brand new tone on the town instantly. They raced out to the very best begin within the league, profitable their first 9 video games, which included a revenge victory in Philadelphia for the coach. 

Nonetheless, that yr was an early lesson within the limitations a crew faces with out an elite quarterback. 

Former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who got here to Kansas Metropolis after a disappointing stint because the No. 1 decide with the San Francisco 49ers, did sufficient to assist make the Chiefs make an enormous leap from the yr earlier than. However Smith could not do sufficient to make the Chiefs aggressive with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos for the AFC West title. And when the Chiefs did make the playoffs as a wild card crew, they gave up one of many greatest comebacks in playoff historical past to Andrew Luck’s Indianapolis Colts.

The Chiefs have been on the unsuitable finish of the quarterback comparisons that yr, and it might be just a few extra years earlier than they have been on the fitting one.

The 2014 Draft: Dodging Johnny Soccer

Reid and the Chiefs might have gone into the 2014 draft with the hope of drafting a franchise quarterback. 

Former Heisman winner Johnny Manziel was one of the vital thrilling however unsure quarterback prospects in 2014. The Chiefs apparently had curiosity and already had a historical past of overlooking previous character issues for the fitting expertise primarily based on their choice with Kelce.

Manziel beforehand advised Fox Information Digital that he had been in shut communication with the Chiefs throughout the draft course of that yr. Manziel mentioned he and his agent believed Kansas Metropolis was the quarterback’s “flooring” on draft night time. Manziel was one decide away from falling to the Chiefs on the twenty third total decide, and doubtlessly altering the course of historical past.

However only one decide earlier than that, Reid’s outdated crew prevented it from taking place. 

The Cleveland Browns struck a commerce with the Eagles for the twenty second decide, and Manziel went to Cleveland. Manziel went on to have one of the vital disappointing and dysfunctional NFL careers of any Heisman winner in historical past. 

And the Chiefs stayed the course to changing into what they’re as we speak.

The 2016 Season: Division Dominance Begins

After Manning’s retirement from the NFL following the 2015 season, marking a steep decline for the defending Tremendous Bowl champion Broncos, an influence vacuum opened within the AFC West. 

For a lot of the 2016 season, it appeared the Oakland Raiders, led by a younger Derek Carr, have been destined to take the throne within the division that yr. However when Carr suffered a season-ending harm within the second-to-last recreation of the season, a chance opened for the Chiefs. 

Kansas Metropolis gained their ultimate recreation of the season whereas Oakland misplaced, because the Chiefs took over first place and gained their first division title since 2010. It was a crown they have not let go of since, as they’ve gained the division yearly since then. 

That season additionally noticed Kelce make his first push into popular culture by publicizing his relationship, seven full years earlier than relationship Swift. The tight finish launched his personal relationship present, “Catching Kelce” on the E! Community, which launched in November of that yr. The present featured a roster of ladies competing for Kelce’s romantic curiosity, nevertheless it solely lasted one season after disappointing rankings. 

Kelce has since mentioned he needs that the present be “forgotten.” 

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The 2017 Draft: Enter Patrick Mahomes

Reid managed to get the Chiefs to the playoffs practically yearly with Smith at quarterback, however the ceiling on the crew with Smith turned extra obvious every time. 

They could not get previous the divisional spherical. 

Nevertheless, their alternative to vary their quarterback fortunes got here within the 2017 draft. 

Three years after probably denying Manziel to the Chiefs, the Browns handed on Mahomes with the No. 1 decide within the 2017 draft. The Chicago Bears traded up for the No. 2 decide, needing a quarterback, and in addition handed on Mahomes in favor of Mitchell Trubisky. 

Mahomes fell all the best way to the tenth decide, which was owned by the Buffalo Payments, who additionally wanted a quarterback. Buffalo made the commerce to ship Mahomes to Kansas Metropolis. Buffalo has misplaced 4 playoff video games to Mahomes since then.

The 9 groups that handed on Mahomes might have believed the low marks on his scouting report that claimed he developed some “unhealthy habits” and “lacked self-discipline” as a passer in school, regardless of possessing supreme expertise. 

At the moment, Mahomes was also called the son of Pat Mahomes Sr., who was a pitcher on a number of MLB groups within the Nineties and early 2000s. Mahomes Sr. even wound up on the “lovable loser” New York Mets in 2000, who went to the World Sequence in opposition to the Nineties dynasty New York Yankees. The youthful Mahomes was simply 6 years outdated that yr.

However Mahomes’ father was left off the Mets’ playoff roster, and the Yankees, then referred to as the “Evil Empire,” went on to beat the Mets and win a 3rd straight World Sequence championship and the fourth of an period. 

When Mahomes was drafted by the Chiefs in April 2017, it put him ready to ultimately declare that exact same kind of {hardware} this upcoming Sunday.

The 2018 Season: A New Sheriff in City

After a yr of sitting behind Smith as a backup, Mahomes took the reins because the Chiefs beginning quarterback. He modified the fortunes of the franchise instantly. In his first three profession begins, he threw 13 landing passes with out a single interception. 

Mahomes went on to win league MVP and earn the Chiefs the No. 1 seed within the AFC. In his first playoff begin, the younger quarterback helped Reid avenge his first playoff collapse with the Chiefs in 2013, by defeating Luck’s Colts 31-13 with none risk of a comeback. 

Kansas Metropolis reached the AFC title recreation for the primary time since 1993, the place the league’s final evil empire awaited them. 

Tom Brady’s New England Patriots went right into a freezing chilly Arrowhead Stadium and simply edged out the Chiefs in an additional time thriller. It crushed the hearts of Chiefs followers in attendance who have been dreaming of their first Tremendous Bowl journey since 1969. 

And much like what occurred when the Yankees beat his father’s Mets to win a 3rd straight World Sequence, Mahomes’ first playoff loss to Brady despatched the Patriots to the Tremendous Bowl for the third straight yr. Mahomes was compelled to observe as a shedding opponent, as he entered his first offseason after playoff heartbreak. 

Tremendous Bowl LIV: The First Style of Championship

The Chiefs followers who had their hearts damaged by the Patriots did not have to attend lengthy for his or her long-awaited Tremendous Bowl look. 

Mahomes and Kelce got here proper again within the 2019 season and picked up the place they left off. And this time, they did not even should cope with Brady and the Patriots, who misplaced within the Wild Card spherical in Brady’s final recreation as a Patriot. 

So the Chiefs picked up the mantle of the NFL’s dynasty, profitable Tremendous Bowl LIV over the San Francisco 49ers within the ultimate huge recreation earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. It broke Kansas Metropolis’s 50-year Tremendous Bowl drought and elevated the franchise within the popular culture sphere as effectively.

The entire nation appeared to rally behind Kansas Metropolis, celebrating the small market underdog that lastly received over the hump. Reid turned a central determine on this celebration, as his two-decades-long teaching profession had lastly been validated with a Vince Lombardi Trophy. 

Mahomes went on to signal a historic 10-year contract extension the next July, guaranteeing that the prime years of his profession can be with the Chiefs. Only one month later, he received engaged to his now-wife Brittany, who had already been pregnant since Could. 

Kelce went on to seem as a fictionalized model of himself within the first episode of the comedy sequence “Moonbase 8” later that yr.

And the entire nation received a blitz of commercials throughout the pandemic that featured the Chiefs stars and Reid, in a advertising and marketing technique that has solely develop into extra distinguished since then. 

It was all only a modest begin of an rising phenomenon. 

Tremendous Bowl LV: A Historic Humbling

The Chiefs have been seeking to get a fast begin on their dynasty after they made it again to the Tremendous Bowl within the 2020 season. 

However this time, they weren’t capable of get round Brady. 

Brady and his new crew, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, met Mahomes and the Chiefs in Tampa Bay for a historic Tremendous Bowl overshadowed by the impression of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And it ended up being probably the most lopsided Tremendous Bowl since then, as Brady and the Bucs gained 31-9. 

It was a darkish footnote within the Chiefs dynasty, as Reid’s son and Chiefs assistant coach, Britt Reid, was in a automobile crash simply days earlier than the sport. 

Mahomes’ loss to Brady, whom he had suffered his solely two playoff losses to, gave Brady his seventh Tremendous Bowl and created a large hole for Mahomes to catch as much as if he wished to surpass him. 

However that did not cease Mahomes from attempting. 

The 2022 Season: Getting Again

A loss to Brady in Tremendous Bowl LV after which a shocking playoff loss to Joe Burrow’s Bengals within the following yr’s AFC championship recreation left some questioning if a Chiefs dynasty would ever materialize, particularly after the crew misplaced famous person huge receiver Tyreek Hill within the 2022 offseason. 

Hill was instrumental to the Chiefs’ success throughout the three years of the Mahomes period.

In the meantime, Kelce parted methods with an enormous a part of his crew off the sphere. In Could 2022, he broke up along with his ex-girlfriend, Instagram mannequin Kala Nicole. The 2 had been collectively since 2017 after Nicole reportedly began their relationship by DMing him on Instagram. 

However Mahomes and Kelce sought to show they might be simply high-quality with out Hill in 2022, and shortly sufficient, Kelce proved to be fairly high-quality with out Nicole. 

Mahomes replicated his MVP season from 2018, profitable the glory for the second time in his profession, main the Chiefs to a 14-3 document and the highest seed within the AFC.

Within the playoffs, they received their rematch with Burrow and the Bengals. Mahomes, with a sprained ankle, led his crew to an avenging 23-20 win, organising a game-winning subject objective on a harm ankle. 

By that time, Brady was formally achieved enjoying, for good (in all probability). 

For Mahomes, that meant an opportunity to essentially lay down the regulation about who was in cost within the NFL now. He noticed that form of authority in his life from the opposite aspect, from Brady simply years earlier. Perhaps he even noticed it from Derek Jeter and the Yankees if he and his dad watched the World Sequence in 2000, even after his dad did not make the Mets’ postseason roster. 

For Reid, a Tremendous Bowl matchup in opposition to the Eagles, the crew that fired him after that loss to the Giants on New Yr’s Eve in 2012, waited on the opposite aspect.

And for Kelce, an opportunity to impress the world, and possibly one of many world’s well-known ladies, was hanging on the market too. 

Tremendous Bowl LVII: The Slippery Showdown

The Chiefs gained one of many all-time thrilling Tremendous Bowl video games in league historical past in Tremendous Bowl LVII. A 38-35 win over the Eagles, on a last-second kick by Harrison Butker, went down as one of many all-time trendy classics.

And to many, it was an all-time controversy. 

The enjoying floor at State Farm Stadium in Arizona was specifically curated in an $800,000 operation by the NFL to supply pure grass for the sport. 

A number of Eagles gamers complained to reporters concerning the floor being slippery and affecting their efficiency after the sport, together with Jordan Mailata and Hassan Reddick. 

Even Chiefs defensive lineman Frank Clark advised reporters the sphere “was form of horrible.” 

And regardless of that, the Chiefs and Eagles performed to a fair beat, slipping and sliding to 35-35 tie late within the recreation. 

The Chiefs have been already in subject objective vary, and the Eagles have been practically out of timeouts. All they wanted was a primary down to empty the clock for Butker. 

They usually received the primary down on a holding name by James Bradberry, who the Eagles plucked from the Giants within the offseason. Some have argued that the penalty mustn’t have been referred to as. Most have instructed the penalty is legitimate. 

However had it not been referred to as, the Eagles would have had loads of time to go down the sphere and attempt to change issues.

As a substitute, they simply had just a few seconds and all Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts might do was throw the ball onto an empty plot of slippery turf. 

A dynasty was practically full. 

The 2023 Season: The Cling-Out Heard ‘Spherical The World

On Sept. 12, 2023, the now-defunct media startup The Messenger reported that Kelce and Swift have been “quietly hanging out.” 

Twelve days later, Swift confirmed up in a set at Arrowhead Stadium with Kelce’s mother to observe the Chiefs play the Bears, and the NFL hasn’t been the identical since. 

Swift ended up going to 13 Chiefs video games that season, and each time she did, the published by no means let the viewers neglect. She was proven in between performs over and again and again, drawing loads of new eyeballs to the sport, whereas rolling lots of the eyeballs that have been already watching. 

Chiefs video games set a brand new customary for viewership within the NFL, as every one turned a nationwide popular culture occasion. 5 of the highest 10 most-watched prime-time telecasts of 2023 have been all Chiefs video games, based on knowledge from Selection.

After the tip of the tip of the common season, Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Kansas Metropolis Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt, introduced that Swift’s attendance at Chiefs video games has elevated the crew’s fanbase by 30–40%.

And the Chiefs placed on an enormous present for all of these new followers. They made a playoff run that, for the primary time, compelled the Chiefs to go on the street to win video games. It did not even faze them, as they took down the Payments in Buffalo and the Ravens in Baltimore to get again to the Tremendous Bowl. 

Tremendous Bowl LVIII: Sin Metropolis Magic

Swift flew 5,700 miles and crossed 9 time zones in a single day to observe her first Tremendous Bowl as an NFL WAG. 

After ending a leg on her “Eras Tour” in Tokyo, Swift instantly flew to Las Vegas to observe Kelce play in Tremendous Bowl LVIII. 

Her present in Tokyo proved to easily be a gap act, because the Chiefs and 49ers battled in one of many longest and most-watched playoff sporting occasions ever. 

It was the most-watched telecast in historical past with 123.7 million viewers, and so they tuned in for 74 minutes and 57 seconds – the longest Tremendous Bowl in historical past. 

The size was credited to the truth that it was solely the second Tremendous Bowl ever to go to additional time, and there, it turned the primary Tremendous Bowl ever to characteristic a number of scores in additional time. 

When additional time started, the 49ers received the ball first, however might solely handle a subject objective. 

Then Mahomes and Kelce got here out, with Reid on the sideline, needing 75 yards to clinch a dynasty. They received these 75 yards in a methodical 13-play drive, capped off with a game-winning landing move from Mahomes to Mecole Hardman. 

And it was official: The Chiefs have been the crew of the 2020s. 

The 2024 Season: A Nationwide Obsession

Like many different issues in 2024, the Chiefs turned a political debate. 

It began with their kicker, Butker, who ignited nationwide outrage from some feminists when he gave a controversial graduation speech at Benedictine Faculty. There, he expressed his conservative values and inspired ladies to embrace a conventional position as a spouse and mom. 

This stirred a divide between lots of the new followers who had joined on only for Swift and old-school conservative Chiefs followers who agreed with Butker. 

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That divide widened after Brittany Mahomes appreciated one among then-former President Doanld Trump’s Instagram posts in August. It ignited an issue so scorching, that Trump himself weighed in on the problem and expressed his fondness for the Mahomes household, whereas disparaging Swift after the pop star endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris for president on Sept. 10.

Brittany and Swift stoked election debate round their friendship as they have been incessantly seen sitting individually at Cheifs video games all through the season. The 2 have been seen collectively just a few instances, which cooled hypothesis a few political divide throughout the Chiefs household, however followers nonetheless argued relentlessly on social media. 

The political debates between liberal new followers who joined for Swift and conservative Chiefs followers who supported Butker and Brittany raged on.

Then, the day earlier than the election, Mahomes mom Randi Mahomes threw a bucket of gasoline on the state of affairs by totally and unapologetically asserting her endorsement of Trump on the Chiefs’ recreation in opposition to the Buccaneers, suited in a MAGA hat. 

And all of the whereas, the Chiefs received off to an undefeated begin whereas seemingly enjoying their worst soccer in years. Week after week, Mahomes and firm discovered methods to drag out video games by the slimmest of margins, with many huge moments being determined by favorable referee choices. 

It is a pattern that carried into the playoffs. Outrage over a number of questionable officiating choices in Kansas Metropolis’s postseason wins in opposition to the Texans and Payments have run rampant in current weeks, even leading to one fan beginning a petition calling for a boycott till there’s referee reform. 

However it labored for the Chiefs regardless, as they’re again within the Tremendous Bowl for a rematch with the Eagles. 

As if the crew’s two histories aren’t tied sufficient, Swift grew up an Eagles fan in Pennsylvania. However even Swift’s father has capitulated to the Chiefs’ evil empire. 

Kelce advised reporters that Swift’s father, a lifelong Eagles fan, will likely be sporting a Chiefs’ jersey when the 2 groups face off Sunday. 

As a result of for the Swift household, and plenty of others in America, the Chiefs merely come at first else now. 

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