KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Whoever came up with the saying, “To the victor go the spoils,” could never have had the Kansas City Chiefs in mind.
They wouldn't have believed the amount of spoils that have come their way since their Super Bowl title.
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There was Patrick Mahomes, the All-Pro quarterback and widely regarded as the league's best player, jetting from the Kentucky Derby to the Formula One race in Miami to the Met Gala, where he walked the red carpet alongside his wife, Brittany.
There was Travis Kelce, the All-Pro tight end widely regarded as the league's best at his position, taking some time out from his popular podcast with his older brother, Jason, to handle hosting duties on “Saturday Night Live.”
Then there was the entire team who, along with two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Andy Reid, flying to the White House for a meeting with President Joe Biden. It's a trip the Chiefs were unable to make after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in 2020 because of the pandemic, and one they certainly relished after topping the Philadelphia Eagles in February.
“The hospitality was phenomenal,” Reid said. “They had different military guys in each of the rooms they let us go in, and the guys were experts on the paintings and the architecture and who's special room this was and that room, so you got the history, from the oldest table to the oldest picture, and you got the history of that. I think the guys appreciated that.”
That, and the food.
“I've never had this before,” Reid said, “but they had a French toast-grilled cheese-and-ham sandwich that they sprinkled a little bit of powdered sugar on. It was phenomenal. There was an abundance of this. Then they had chicken fingers — exotic chicken fingers. Maybe the best part was, which I hadn't seen before, little bit-sized squares of the heart of the watermelon. My hat went off to the chef. I went back and talked to him and I just go, ‘You guys are unbelievable.’”
Unbelievable is a good way to describe the Chiefs they days.
They wrapped their final mandatory minicamp of the offseason Thursday, and now have about a month before reporting to training camp. They will do so having won eight consecutive division titles, three of the past four conference championships and with two championship rings — they got their latest in a closed-door ceremony Thursday night.
So quite naturally, the biggest stars on the league's best team have been in demand.
“I've always wanted to go to the Kentucky Derby,” said Mahomes, who gave the call for riders up in May, “but I wanted to win the Super Bowl before I went, and obviously the last one we had COVID that canceled that, so I was glad we were able to experience that. It was an awesome race. It's just about picking and choosing what you can do.”
Mahomes will be in the spotlight some more in the coming weeks.
He's the central figure alongside Kurt Cousins and Marcus Mariota in “Quarterback,” an eight-part docuseries produced by the NFL and Netflix that takes viewers behind the scenes last season. The show, which premiers July 12, is produced in part by Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions company.
“I wanted to for sure have some editing rights,” Mahomes said Thursday, " because I've realized I'm kind of wild on the field. I don't even remember the things I say. It was cool to go through that process, having Peyton and his company. I have full trust in him. Thanks to the Chiefs and Coach Reid for having full trust in us during the season. It's going to be cool for people to see."
Mahomes, who became a father of two last November, is also trying to squeeze in some time on the links. He's teaming with Kelce to play the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in the latest edition of “the Match,” an exhibition golf event June 29 at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas. It will air on TNT.
“I'll play a little here and there. I have a charity golf tournament coming up. Other than that, we'll roll when the lights come on,” Mahomes said. “Travis hits the ball really far, just not always straight. If I can hit it straight, Travis will hit some shots that help.”
Kelce has been busy, too.
There was the moment he went viral for his epically poor first pitch before a Cleveland Guardians game, and an opportunity this past week to redeem himself before a Kansas City Royals game. He hosted a music festival in Kansas City the same weekend as the city hosted the NFL draft. And he earned mostly positive reviews for his hosting duties on “Saturday Night Live,” highlighted by an opening monologue that featured his entire family.
“It was a machine, man. It was a very strategic, structured machine,” said Kelce, who has since hired acting representation with an eye on a post-playing career. “Everyone works great together. All the writers, the production — it's like a team effort.”
The Chiefs certainly know something about that.
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