Sunday, February 20, 2011
Last week we ran an editorial about chanting “Chiefs” at the end of the national anthem.
I used to hate that. In a country where we laud our national anthem, the fact that Chiefs fans would mar the end of the national anthem really made me angry. When I was at a high school game and I heard the word "Chiefs" echo through our little gym I would roll my eyes and glare at anyone near me that had the guts to shout it out.
In all fairness, I wasn’t born here. I’m a Floridian, and my team is the Pittsburgh Steelers, so I didn’t have the Kansas background that many of these vocal Chiefs' loyalists had. I didn’t grow up in red.
This summer and fall I spent a lot of time around the Chiefs organization because of my internship with a local news station. I went to almost every home game. Part of my job was to interview Chiefs fans about their team and the zeal they felt about it was contagious.
And what wasn’t to love? The Chiefs are one of the oldest teams in the NFL. Despite their last few seasons, they have a history of success in the league. They moved from Dallas to Kansas City in 1963 and many great names have been on its roster or coaching staff. Men such as Len Dawson, Bobby Bell, Joe Montana and coaches such as Hank Stram, Marty Schottenheimer and Dick Vermeil.
And every year 16 teams fight tooth and nail to win the Lamar Hunt trophy, named after the founder of the Chiefs and of the American Football League, which would compete with and then later merge with the NFL in 1970. The merger would create a sporting league that would become one of the cornerstones of the United States; today’s NFL. And much of it is due to Lamar Hunt.
Kansas City is a sports town. And the Chiefs, through good and bad, are part of its residents' lives. Last summer, before anyone would have ever guessed that the Chiefs would be AFC West champions, thousands of people showed up in the sweltering heat to see their team. And when it rained and the team went inside, fans still stayed, peering through windows, hoping to get a glimpse of Dwayne Bowe or Jamaal Charles.
Then the team had some success. But even when the team is winning, Kansas City isn’t an easy place to root for a team. In the bitter cold of winter, the parking lots were still filled with jolly, drunk tailgaters and the upper deck of Arrowhead still housed binocular-hoisting fans halfway frozen to their seats.
This is what changed my mind and why I think the Chiefs’ chant is so special. They aren’t trying to devalue the national anthem; these red-faced Kansas and Missouri-bred citizens are trying to show their love for their team. America is not just the home of apple pie and Snooki’s poof, it is the home to one of the proudest and most historical franchises in the NFL. And if you’ve ever stepped into Arrowhead stadium on game day you’ll have to try really hard not to get carried away and add your voice to the mass of Chiefs chanters.
After all, if I can buy an American flag thong, why can’t these people add their own little zing to the national anthem?
— Edited by Brittany Nelson
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Comments
Morning Brew: And the home of the ... Chiefs
"Red, White and Blue thong?". I love it! Who says KU girls are "granola?"
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