Super Bowl LVIII: 10 things to know about Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have reached the Super Bowl in four of the past five seasons and are poised -- again -- to become the eighth team to win the NFL’s marquee game in back-to-back seasons.

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Already on the brink, a victory in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 would stamp the Chiefs as the latest NFL dynasty. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and a stingy defense helped Kansas City win two road games in the playoffs and earn a trip to Sunday’s game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

This year’s game is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, when Kansas City defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20. The Chiefs lost the following season 31-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Super Bowl LVII, Mahomes rallied Kansas City from a 10-point halftime deficit to pull out a 38-35 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Chiefs have had a storied history in pro football: They were a charter member of the American Football League, played in the first Super Bowl in January 1967, and lost the longest game in NFL history on Christmas Day 1971.

Here are 10 things to know about the Chiefs franchise, past and present.

Beginnings

The team now known as the Chiefs was founded Aug. 14, 1959, as the Dallas Texans. Their first season was 1960, and the franchise moved to Kansas City and changed its name to the Chiefs in 1963. The franchise won AFL titles in 1962, 1966 and 1969.

The 1962 AFL championship game was particularly memorable, as the Texans outlasted the two-time champion Houston Oilers 20-17 in a double-overtime game on Dec. 23, 1962. Until the 1971 Christmas Day playoff, it was the longest game in pro football history. It remains the longest championship game in AFL/NFL history. Tommy Brooker ended the game with a 25-yard field goal after the two teams had battled for 77 minutes, 54 seconds.

Fun fact: Winning coach Hank Stram was interviewed by Jack Buck, who was broadcasting for ABC that day. The two would work together on CBS Radio broadcasts on “Monday Night Football” from 1978 to 1984 and again from 1987 to 1995.

Smokin’

It is unlikely you’ll see this in an NFL locker room any more. The Chiefs played in the first Super Bowl, then called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game and trailed by only 14-10 at the half. At halftime, a cameraman caught quarterback Len Dawson smoking a cigarette and drinking a Fresca.

But it was the Chiefs who got smoked in the second half at the Los Angeles Coliseum, as the Green Bay Packers scored three touchdowns to win 35-10.

Favorite receivers

Dawson and Mahomes have been blessed with go-to receivers during their careers. For Dawson, his favorite target was Otis Taylor. The wide receiver caught 374 passes from Dawson for 6,733 yards and 57 touchdowns in 115 regular-season games and added 27 more catches in the seven postseason games for 481 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Kelce has caught 722 passes from Mahomes for 8,819 yards and has scored 71 touchdowns in 110 games, including the regular season and playoffs.

Over a three-game stretch this season, Mahomes completed 28 straight passes to Kelce, The Kansas City Star reported.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, there was just a 1 in 3,000 chance (0.03%) of a completion on every one of the 28 targets. In the AFC Championship Game, Mahomes threw 11 passes to Kelce, who caught them all and gained 116 yards and scored a touchdown.

Mahomes has thrown for 4,183 yards and 27 touchdowns during the 2023 regular season, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. In the playoffs, he has passed for 718 yards and four scores. Kelce has caught 93 passes for 984 yards and five touchdowns, plus an additional 23 catches for 262 yards and three touchdowns.

But Mahomes has other targets, like wide receiver Rashee Rice -- 79 catches, 938 yards and seven TDs during the regular season and 20 catches in the postseason for 223 yards and one score.

65 Toss Power Trap

For Super Bowl IV, NFL Films put a microphone on Kansas City coach Hank Stram, which turned out to be a brilliant move. Pacing, strutting and cajoling on the sidelines, Stram was the perfect narrator as the Chiefs scored a big upset against the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings. His call of “65 Toss Power Trap,” which resulted in a 5-yard touchdown run, is still an NFL Films classic. The play was a fake toss sweep, handed off to running back Mike Garrett, who burst into the end zone to give the Chiefs a 16-0 lead.

“Was that there, boys?” Stram exulted. “I tell ya that thing was there, yes sir boys!”

The Chiefs went on to win, 23-7, in the final game between the AFL and NFL.

Famous players

The Chiefs have retired 10 uniform numbers: Jan Stenerud (3), Len Dawson (16), Emmitt Thomas (18), Abner Haynes (28), Stone Johnson (33), Mack Lee Hill (36), Derrick Thomas (58), Willie Lanier (63), Bobby Bell (78) and Buck Buchanan (86). Bell, Buchanan, Dawson, Lanier, Stenerud and Stram are all members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So is the team’s owner, Hunt, who was the first member of the Chiefs organization to be inducted in 1972.

Twenty-five players who wore Chiefs uniforms at some point during their careers have been enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There are 48 members of the Chiefs Hall of Honor.

Christmas classic -- the NFL’s longest game

The Chiefs played the longest game in NFL history, hosting the Miami Dolphins in an AFC playoff game on Dec. 25, 1971. It took 82 minutes, 40 seconds to complete, but Miami’s Garo Yepremian kicked a game-winning 37-yard field goal to give the Dolphins a 27-24 victory after 7:40 of the second overtime period. It was the final game played at Municipal Stadium. The loss overshadowed the performance of Kansas City’s Ed Podolak, who scored two touchdowns, rushed for 85 yards, caught eight passes for 110 yards and had 155 return yards on special teams. The two teams met the following season to christen Arrowhead Stadium, and Miami won 20-10.

Baseball star, too

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was drafted in the 37th round by the Detroit Tigers in 2014. He was a pitcher like his father, Pat Mahomes, who played for six teams in the majors from 1992 to 2003. The elder Mahomes had a 42-39 lifetime mark. Patrick Mahomes also starred in the Junior League Baseball World Series in 2010, when he played for the Tyler, Texas, squad that represented the Southwest United States. The team reached the title game before losing 9-1 to a team from Taipei, Taiwan.

Crazy eights?

The Chiefs are trying to become the eighth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls. If Kansas City prevails in Super Bowl LVIII against the 49ers, the franchise will join an elite group: Green Bay Packers, 1966-67 seasons; Miami Dolphins, 1972-73; Pittsburgh Steelers, 1974-75 and 1978-79; San Francisco 49ers, 1988-89; Dallas Cowboys, 1992-93; Denver Broncos, 1997-98; and New England Patriots, 2003-04.

Travis Kelce (Taylor’s version)

Kelce already had a reputation as a player before he met pop superstar Taylor Swift, but their romance this season at times has brought him -- ready for it? -- even more attention.

If the singer makes it to Super Bowl LVIII, it will be the 13th game she has attended this season. And that is the singer’s lucky number.

The Chiefs have gone 9-3, including 3-0 in the playoffs, when the “Anti-Hero” singer was cheering in luxury boxes, USA Today reported.

With Swift in attendance, Kelce has made 80 catches for 946 yards and five touchdowns, according to the newspaper. When the singer was not at the stadium, Kansas City was still a respectable 4-2. Kelce had 36 catches for 300 yards and three touchdowns, according to the newspaper.

Super Bowl results

Lamar Hunt was the founder of the franchise, and he is credited with coming up with the name “Super Bowl” for the NFL’s championship game. Hunt said he likely got the name from the toy his children were playing, called the Super Ball, The Sporting News reported.

Hunt wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1966, saying, “I have kiddingly called it the ‘Super Bowl,’ which obviously can be improved upon.”

His legacy endures. The winner of the AFC Championship Game receives the Lamar Hunt Trophy.

Here is how the Chiefs have fared in their five previous Super Bowls. The season they won is in parentheses, but the game was played in January or February of the next calendar year.

• Super Bowl I (1966): Originally called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game: Lost to Green Bay Packers 35-10.
• Super Bowl IV (1969): Defeated Minnesota Vikings 23-7
• Super Bowl LIV (2019): Defeated San Francisco 49ers 31-20
• Super Bowl LV (2020): Lost to Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9
• Super Bowl LVII (2022): Defeated Philadelphia Eagles 38-35.

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