We originally posted this recipe for a January 2015 playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers won 18 to 16 as Le’Veon Bell grinded the game away on the ground. We, of course, were devastated.
Here we are six years later. The Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes. He became the NFL MVP in his first year as a starter and then led the Chiefs in an improbable Super Bowl LIV championship in the next season. Now our beloved hometown team has the chance to repeat. Run it back! (And, Le’Veon Bell plays for us.)
In 1960, Lamar Hunt spearheaded the founding of the American Football League as a rival to the National Football League. He created the Dallas Texans franchise. Three years later, Hunt relocated the Texans to Missouri where they became the Kansas City Chiefs. (Yes, Kansas City is in Missouri.)
For that first year in Kansas City, our grandfather bought season tickets. His tickets have remained in the family for 53 years. We go. We cheer zealously. We consume an adult beverage or two. Losses crush us. Wins elevate us. The Chiefs are a family tradition.
The team had early success in Kansas City. After the two leagues agreed to play a championship game, later named the Super Bowl, the first matchup featured the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won. The Chiefs returned in Super Bowl IV beating the Minnesota Vikings.
From 1975 until 1988, the Chiefs stunk. Big time. Our father jokes that he could leave the house 30 minutes prior to kickoff yet arrive to his seat in time to see the ball booted from the tee.
The Chiefs’ renaissance came with the hiring of Coach Marty Schottenheimer. His squads featured football greats like Christian Okoye, Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith, Joe Montana, and Marcus Allen. The Chiefs were, by percentage, the winningest team of the 1990s.
Arrowhead Stadium emerged as a mythical venue. Smoke from ten-thousand grills combines to form a delicious yet ominous cloud that hovers above the festivities. Exuberant fans, full of barbecue and light beer, cheer and jeer from player introductions until the final whistle. Arrowhead Stadium owns the Guinness World Record for “[t]he loudest crowd roar at a sports stadium,” which hit 142.2 dbA.
For all the winning of the 1990s, the Chiefs could not get the job done in postseason. They largely squandered the Arrowhead advantage and did not capture a home playoff win from January 8, 1994 until January 12, 2019, when the Chiefs, lead by first-year starter Patrick Mahomes and NFL MVP, defeated the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional Round.
Their next opponent, the New England Patriots, and next game, the AFC Championship, turned into an instant classic as the young Mahomes and old Tom Brady batted to a draw at the end of regulation. The Patriots guessed right on the overtime coin toss and then drove the field to score a touchdown, advancing to the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs, of course, rebounded the next season. Their march to Super Bowl LIV went through Arrowhead with epic come-from-behind wins over the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans. Who could forget the three touchdowns the Chiefs scored in the final six and a half minutes to defeat the San Francisco 49ers?
The victory parade hadn’t ended before the Chiefs players announced their newest goal: to run it back. It’s no small feat. The last team to repeat as world champs was the Patriots in 2003 and 2004, quarterbacked, no surprise, by Tom Brady.
To be honest, Chiefs fans weren’t concerned about Brady this year or his transplanted team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It took the Bucs a while to kick things into gear. The teams played in Week 12, and though the Bucs made it close towards the end, the game never felt in doubt. We anticipated a Chiefs and Packers rematch of Super Bowl I. But, this matchup now feels apropos. The old guard versus the new. The passing of the torch. For Mahomes, you got to be beat the best to be the best.
Our anxiety spiked during last year’s Super Bowl. This year, we trust the process and the team. By kickoff, though, we’ll need a drink to calm our nervous, and we’ll craft one of these cocktails, paying homage to our hometown team. We call it a “Chiefs Mule.” We considered dubbing it an “Andy Reid Special,” but that sounds strange.
Chiefs Mule
Ingredients
- Two ounces of Rieger’s Kansas City Whiskey
- One ounce of Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
- Two dashes of bitters
- Three ounces of ginger beer
- lime wedge, for garnish
- pomegranate seeds, for garnish
Directions
Prepare two glasses with ice. In a cocktail shaker, mix whiskey, pomegranate liqueur and bitters. Close, and shake. Pour ginger beer into glasses. Pour mixture from shaker over ginger beer.
Makes two servings. Feel free to garnish with pomegranate seeds if you are fancy.
