Five years after their first trip to the Super Bowl in five decades, though, things have changed. As the Chiefs prepare to face the Eagles next Sunday in New Orleans with an opportunity to win their record third consecutive Lombardi Trophy, football fans are seeing Andy Reid's bushy mustache popping up on TV commercials.
They are hearing Patrick Mahomes' voice seemingly everywhere. And Travis Kelce? He's only dating the biggest pop star on the planet. All of that and more has contributed to a profound sense of Chiefs fatigue that has turned many NFL fans against them. As the Chiefs grew into a dynasty, they became rivals to multiple teams, adversaries to overcome. Now, the Chiefs are the team that prevents other fandoms from reaching the promised land.
Indeed, the Chiefs have long been the rivals of the Raiders and Broncos, who play in the same division. But that team tucked away in Middle America also has become the biggest thorn in the side of the Bengals, whom they've played in consecutive AFC title games, and the Bills, whose season they have ended in four of the past five years.
Including this one. Likewise, when his team loses, he loses. All dynasties inspire fatigue and good-natured hate because it is tiring to lose to the same guys over and over.
In that respect, Lewis said, the Chiefs have taken on the role that the Patriots of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady held for more two decades โ another once-floundering franchise that found the right mix of coach and quarterback and became a dynasty. Dan Wann, who teaches psychology and studies fandom at Murray State University. Think of the Cubs; they were the loveable losers.
