Great, reflective piece, Seth. I've had the same thoughts over the last two years, but a good reminder to treasure what we have. Especially enjoyed the memories you conjured up, dating back to Mahomes' first full season. Little did we know...oh, the things you'll do!
I remember watching the 1st Superbowl win for the Chiefs.....and i remember the absolute desolation and soul destroying heartbreak that the following 50 years gave me.....then football Nirvana came to KC in the form of a frog voiced Texas boy who proceeded to make those 50 years seem like nothing....the joy I experienced was like nothing ever before....Superbowl LIV is my favorite Chiefs win of all time....i got to experience that with my son (the spoiled little craphead who doesnt know how good he has it now as a Chiefsfan....😅🤣).......but if they 3-peat....I may change my mind....I am so excited for this post season....my son is moving back from Florida and will be able to watch it with me this year.....I say all this to let you know I truly understand what a blessing this is as a Chiefs fan.....I will never take these past few years for granted.
Great column, Seth! All so true but let me add something for the CITN faithful…
How blessed have we loyal readers been to consume the excellent reporting/analysis you deliver to us regularly? I can’t think of any resource of Chiefs material that approaches the quality you create. And not just the quality but the quantity you have produced; especially this last month or so. We couldn’t enjoy or understand our favorite team to this heightened degree without you. So thank you, Seth. When we reflect in future years about how we enjoyed these teams we will also recount how you added to the excitement.
If you readers agree with me about the value of this newsletter, I would ask us all to consider boosting our compensation to Seth and his family beyond the unbelievable bargain rate of $12/ year. There is an option to decline the 60% discount and pay the full freight of $30. And there is another option to pay a flat annual payment of $50. That $38 extra equates to us forgoing two half slab dinners at Joe’s over twelve months 😉! Is this worth it or what?! 👏
Regardless, let’s all count ourselves incredibly lucky to not only have our dynastic Chiefs but also a one of a kind chronicler of their exploits. Seth, we all appreciate your contribution to this wonderful pastime in our lives. You earn our gratitude weekly.
Dave, I deeply, deeply appreciate your kind words and your love for this place. I don't know what to say other than thank you. People like you make this the best job in the world.
I did not mean to imply there were not good things that happened in those 50 years of wandering in the desert....getting to watch Derrick Thomas get 7 sacks in one game...only to lose the game because he didn't get the 8th....Montana leading us to the AFC Championship game...only see him get taken out on the frozen turf in Buffalo...Priest Holmes, Tony G, Trent green, and that incredible o line with Willie Roaf...only to watch the no punt game....the grace and running perfection of Jamaal Charles in the 5 TD game against the Raiders.....there were moments that I remember fondly....I could go on...but you get the idea....all those great players....no Superbowl.....sigh
I re-watched that "Chiefs win the SB, everybody goes nuts" video for the first time in years when I wrote this and actually, literally teared up. Unbelievable haha.
I was 11 years old when the Chiefs came to KC, 13 when they went to their first Super Bowl, 17 when they won their first Super Bowl. I cannot express how much I'm enjoying this run! Thanks Seth for reminding me of their long road to greatness. It's soooo awesome to be a fan of the greatest dynasty ever. I never knew being hated and envied by all the non Chief NFL fans could be this much fun!
Seth, I was fortunate enough to hear most of last nights podcast but was called away before everyone’s picks ( including final score). Could you please tell me everyone’s picks yesterday? Thanks!
I did not coin this phrase that someone used about the current Chiefs, but remember people--you are now living through what will be referred to as "the good old days" in 10+ years.
I hated that 3 games in 11 days stretch, but it just occurred to me - we've already done what we're trying to do again right now. We faced a tough 3 game schedule with a prize at the end, and it kicked off with a potential trap game against a dangerous pass rush (Browns/Texans), followed by a tough matchup on national TV against a playoff team and would-be rival (Texans/Bills-Ravens winner), and culminating in the highest profile game of the season against a well-coached team in front of an international audience (Christmas Day/Super Bowl). We went 3-0 when no one thought we would. Who could be better prepared for this postseason than we are?
Thanks Seth for that blast from the past. I was not always a Chiefs fan until the Army dropped me here in 1994. But then I was able to watch the team destroy itself with Marty and others coaching a totally undisciplined and out of control team. It was so refreshing to see the quality of players we have now and can be proud of. Clark and the rest of the management staff are first class and make the community proud. Thanks for your writing it adds so much more to the whole experience.
I was 10 at the time of the first SB for KC v GB. Been a fan ever since. It has been surreal what’s going on now , considering ALL the heartbreak. It’s really unbelievable. Thanks Seth
I was just remarking on X today, I was at the Dee Ford game and was drunk enough that I was hopping around hugging my friends not realizing what had happened. Just devastated. I also got lucky enough to go to the 'Do we have time to run WASP' game. Hell of an arc. I don't go to games much anymore as being able to watch the Chiefs win that SB was all I ever wanted since I was kid. Only made the game in Vegas this year. This has been a run for the ages though, and I'll be rooting for the three peat.
The 90s, man: defined by going 13-3 only to get booted out at Arrowhead. (Though you *know* that was a Tony G. touchdown). Incredible, traumatizing trip down memory lane by Nate Taylor on Only Weird Games.
But this post is a good reminder at how grateful — how stunned by — I am for all this success. And yet, I'm as tight with dread as when Grbac was throwing (or not) to Andre Rison.
To put the Packers thing in perspective, the odds against a team doing what they did is 1 on 13440. If the Chiefs were to win 3 in a row in this league environment, the odds against it (at the beginning) were 1 in 32768. More than twice as hard. And that is just blind numbers, not taking into account the salary cap, free agency and the other stuff great teams have to contend with now that they did not then.
But because of the exponential nature of consecutives they have already done things harder than that. The odds of winning 9 straight division championships was 1 in 262144, as are the odds of making 6 straight AFC Championship games. The Championship game odds would go up to 1 in 2,097,152 with a win on Saturday.
We are living in great times and great place to be a football fan.
I was the caretaker of an out of town ( for work) friend's season tickets in 2007 and 2008, kind of which almost couldn't be given away, so I saw a crap ton of Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen, (at least after opening day and before it got cold - when it wasn't worth it to watch these teams) and a team that had basically kind of stripped itself of experienced players like a rebuilding baseball team. The 4-12 2007 team scored 36 less points than the best defense in the league gave up that year. The Offensive line was so bad, that I called every play action pass for 3 consecutive games because the line leaped back into pass coverage so quickly, not disguising it at all, that you could tell from the stands as a layman. for an NFL linebacker or safety, it must have been comical.
Then in 2008, they lost 2 more games, and gave up more points than the number one offense in the league scored.
Who knew at the time that I was only a decade away from the beginning of THIS, and would have to look 13 years in the rear view now to remember a non winning season.
The Chiefs lost 26 games over those two years. They have lost 26 games in the 7 years of the Mahomes era, while winning 90
So many thoughts. So many memories. For decades the Chiefs delivered heartbreaking losses in the weirdest possible ways. And without toting up the numbers, it feels like they have delivered enough amazing moments in the last seven years to outweigh all of it. My wife asks me questions like, “Which season was the 13 seconds game?” Did any of us ever dream that there would be so many incredible playoff wins that it would be hard to keep them straight? I certainly didn’t.
Having lived through the tough times makes this all the sweeter. Knowing it will eventually come to an end makes it all the more precious. Knowing it could end today makes it agonizingly exciting. But as Syrio Forel put it, “What do we say to Death? Not today.”
Great, reflective piece, Seth. I've had the same thoughts over the last two years, but a good reminder to treasure what we have. Especially enjoyed the memories you conjured up, dating back to Mahomes' first full season. Little did we know...oh, the things you'll do!
Right? In our wildest dreams we didn't think it would be THIS!
I remember watching the 1st Superbowl win for the Chiefs.....and i remember the absolute desolation and soul destroying heartbreak that the following 50 years gave me.....then football Nirvana came to KC in the form of a frog voiced Texas boy who proceeded to make those 50 years seem like nothing....the joy I experienced was like nothing ever before....Superbowl LIV is my favorite Chiefs win of all time....i got to experience that with my son (the spoiled little craphead who doesnt know how good he has it now as a Chiefsfan....😅🤣).......but if they 3-peat....I may change my mind....I am so excited for this post season....my son is moving back from Florida and will be able to watch it with me this year.....I say all this to let you know I truly understand what a blessing this is as a Chiefs fan.....I will never take these past few years for granted.
Great column, Seth! All so true but let me add something for the CITN faithful…
How blessed have we loyal readers been to consume the excellent reporting/analysis you deliver to us regularly? I can’t think of any resource of Chiefs material that approaches the quality you create. And not just the quality but the quantity you have produced; especially this last month or so. We couldn’t enjoy or understand our favorite team to this heightened degree without you. So thank you, Seth. When we reflect in future years about how we enjoyed these teams we will also recount how you added to the excitement.
If you readers agree with me about the value of this newsletter, I would ask us all to consider boosting our compensation to Seth and his family beyond the unbelievable bargain rate of $12/ year. There is an option to decline the 60% discount and pay the full freight of $30. And there is another option to pay a flat annual payment of $50. That $38 extra equates to us forgoing two half slab dinners at Joe’s over twelve months 😉! Is this worth it or what?! 👏
Regardless, let’s all count ourselves incredibly lucky to not only have our dynastic Chiefs but also a one of a kind chronicler of their exploits. Seth, we all appreciate your contribution to this wonderful pastime in our lives. You earn our gratitude weekly.
Dave, I deeply, deeply appreciate your kind words and your love for this place. I don't know what to say other than thank you. People like you make this the best job in the world.
I did not mean to imply there were not good things that happened in those 50 years of wandering in the desert....getting to watch Derrick Thomas get 7 sacks in one game...only to lose the game because he didn't get the 8th....Montana leading us to the AFC Championship game...only see him get taken out on the frozen turf in Buffalo...Priest Holmes, Tony G, Trent green, and that incredible o line with Willie Roaf...only to watch the no punt game....the grace and running perfection of Jamaal Charles in the 5 TD game against the Raiders.....there were moments that I remember fondly....I could go on...but you get the idea....all those great players....no Superbowl.....sigh
hahaha I totally hear you! There were good moments! It just always ended the same for so long!
I re-watched that "Chiefs win the SB, everybody goes nuts" video for the first time in years when I wrote this and actually, literally teared up. Unbelievable haha.
I was 11 years old when the Chiefs came to KC, 13 when they went to their first Super Bowl, 17 when they won their first Super Bowl. I cannot express how much I'm enjoying this run! Thanks Seth for reminding me of their long road to greatness. It's soooo awesome to be a fan of the greatest dynasty ever. I never knew being hated and envied by all the non Chief NFL fans could be this much fun!
hahaha right? This has been WAY more fun than I could've ever dreamed!
Where do you find first half receptions on Underdog??
It was just right there with the rest of the stats they had an option for on the main site (the "pick'em" area)
Could be because I’m in Missouri. We don’t get pick’em games here.
Ooohhhh, that could well be the issue!
Thanks Seth! I needed that
Appreciate you! Enjoy the game today.
Seth, I was fortunate enough to hear most of last nights podcast but was called away before everyone’s picks ( including final score). Could you please tell me everyone’s picks yesterday? Thanks!
We all three picked the Chiefs to win :)
I did not coin this phrase that someone used about the current Chiefs, but remember people--you are now living through what will be referred to as "the good old days" in 10+ years.
One day our kids' kids are gonna ask what this was like. Take mental notes and remember!
I hated that 3 games in 11 days stretch, but it just occurred to me - we've already done what we're trying to do again right now. We faced a tough 3 game schedule with a prize at the end, and it kicked off with a potential trap game against a dangerous pass rush (Browns/Texans), followed by a tough matchup on national TV against a playoff team and would-be rival (Texans/Bills-Ravens winner), and culminating in the highest profile game of the season against a well-coached team in front of an international audience (Christmas Day/Super Bowl). We went 3-0 when no one thought we would. Who could be better prepared for this postseason than we are?
Wow!! Good way of seeing it!!
Well said BIJ! Definitely going to be a higher level of competition, but this team is as battle-tested as any you could dream of.
Thanks Seth for that blast from the past. I was not always a Chiefs fan until the Army dropped me here in 1994. But then I was able to watch the team destroy itself with Marty and others coaching a totally undisciplined and out of control team. It was so refreshing to see the quality of players we have now and can be proud of. Clark and the rest of the management staff are first class and make the community proud. Thanks for your writing it adds so much more to the whole experience.
I'm glad it adds to the joy for you! That's the biggest goal. The more I learn about this game, the more I love it.
I was 10 at the time of the first SB for KC v GB. Been a fan ever since. It has been surreal what’s going on now , considering ALL the heartbreak. It’s really unbelievable. Thanks Seth
12 personnel ! ! !
ALL THE 12 PERSONNEL hahaha
I was just remarking on X today, I was at the Dee Ford game and was drunk enough that I was hopping around hugging my friends not realizing what had happened. Just devastated. I also got lucky enough to go to the 'Do we have time to run WASP' game. Hell of an arc. I don't go to games much anymore as being able to watch the Chiefs win that SB was all I ever wanted since I was kid. Only made the game in Vegas this year. This has been a run for the ages though, and I'll be rooting for the three peat.
Dude.... You're on fire this week.
It's been a terrific week. Here's hoping for another next week!
The 90s, man: defined by going 13-3 only to get booted out at Arrowhead. (Though you *know* that was a Tony G. touchdown). Incredible, traumatizing trip down memory lane by Nate Taylor on Only Weird Games.
But this post is a good reminder at how grateful — how stunned by — I am for all this success. And yet, I'm as tight with dread as when Grbac was throwing (or not) to Andre Rison.
Clearly a Tony G TD, not OPI!
Oh man, I'm so nervous. It's insane.
And Nate went absolutely WILD there. Josh and I would've climbed through the screen and assaulted him if we were able hahaha.
Chiefs gonna chief. Adjective, or verb?
Yes!
To put the Packers thing in perspective, the odds against a team doing what they did is 1 on 13440. If the Chiefs were to win 3 in a row in this league environment, the odds against it (at the beginning) were 1 in 32768. More than twice as hard. And that is just blind numbers, not taking into account the salary cap, free agency and the other stuff great teams have to contend with now that they did not then.
But because of the exponential nature of consecutives they have already done things harder than that. The odds of winning 9 straight division championships was 1 in 262144, as are the odds of making 6 straight AFC Championship games. The Championship game odds would go up to 1 in 2,097,152 with a win on Saturday.
We are living in great times and great place to be a football fan.
I was the caretaker of an out of town ( for work) friend's season tickets in 2007 and 2008, kind of which almost couldn't be given away, so I saw a crap ton of Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen, (at least after opening day and before it got cold - when it wasn't worth it to watch these teams) and a team that had basically kind of stripped itself of experienced players like a rebuilding baseball team. The 4-12 2007 team scored 36 less points than the best defense in the league gave up that year. The Offensive line was so bad, that I called every play action pass for 3 consecutive games because the line leaped back into pass coverage so quickly, not disguising it at all, that you could tell from the stands as a layman. for an NFL linebacker or safety, it must have been comical.
Then in 2008, they lost 2 more games, and gave up more points than the number one offense in the league scored.
Who knew at the time that I was only a decade away from the beginning of THIS, and would have to look 13 years in the rear view now to remember a non winning season.
The Chiefs lost 26 games over those two years. They have lost 26 games in the 7 years of the Mahomes era, while winning 90
Man, that 07 team was so tough to watch. SO tough. It's incredible how bad they got.
Appreciate you breaking down some of those incredible numbers! It adds so much perspective to all this.
So many thoughts. So many memories. For decades the Chiefs delivered heartbreaking losses in the weirdest possible ways. And without toting up the numbers, it feels like they have delivered enough amazing moments in the last seven years to outweigh all of it. My wife asks me questions like, “Which season was the 13 seconds game?” Did any of us ever dream that there would be so many incredible playoff wins that it would be hard to keep them straight? I certainly didn’t.
Having lived through the tough times makes this all the sweeter. Knowing it will eventually come to an end makes it all the more precious. Knowing it could end today makes it agonizingly exciting. But as Syrio Forel put it, “What do we say to Death? Not today.”