UPDATE: KC Beat Philly to Capture Super Bowl 57
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP/KPR) - Chiefs Kingdom is celebrating as Kansas City enjoys another Super Bowl victory. Kansas City beat Philadelphia 38-35 Sunday night in Arizona. The Chiefs won their second NFL title in four years and QB Patrick Mahomes earned his second Super Bowl MVP award.
(Earlier reporting...)
PHOENIX (AP) — Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt remembers the halcyon days of Philadelphia sports in the early 1980s when, during a span of consecutive seasons, the city's four professional sports teams all played for championships. The Flyers lost to the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Final. The 76ers fell to the Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Eagles were blown out by the Raiders in the Super Bowl. Only the Phillies — Schmidt and those fabulous Phillies — were successful, beating the Kansas City Royals in six games to win the World Series.
Schmidt called 1980 a "year that I'll never forget," not only for that championship but for the start of his long friendship with Royals third baseman George Brett, one that endures to this day but will be put to the test on Sunday. Schmidt is pulling for the Eagles in the Super Bowl. Brett, quite naturally, is all-in on the Chiefs. "He and I made a bet," Schmidt said. "Just $20, but the bragging rights are worth millions." There really is no loser in Philadelphia or Kansas City these days.
The Phillies are coming off another World Series appearance, and another defeat, this time to the Astros, while the Eagles are trying to avoid a similar fate Sunday night. The Sixers are soaring in the Eastern Conference with Joel Embiid and James Harden, Villanova is coming off a Final Four appearance and the Union played for the Major League Soccer title. Even Temple beat Houston a few weeks ago in men's basketball, the third win over a No. 1 team in program history. "I live in Atlanta," said hoops Hall of Famer Julius Erving, who was a big part of the Sixers' early 1980s success, "so when I turn the radio on, all I hear about is Atlanta sports. So it's so nice to come back to Philadelphia and know that buzz is here. "The town is crazy," Dr. J added. "Everybody's feeling themselves."
They're feeling warm and fuzzy in Kansas City, too.
The city straddling the Kansas-Missouri state line long ago shed its old cow-town image, turning into a hipster paradise on the plains.
And the dizzying amount of sports on tap in Kansas City, coupled with the success of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs over the years, have only heightened the sense of civic pride that people are feeling these days. "I think the fanbase is unbelievable," Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. "I want to be in a place where I can play ball, show my personality and just win man, so yeah. This has been it."
The Chiefs are playing in their third Super Bowl in four years and trying to bring home a second Lombardi Trophy in that span.
And just across the parking lot, within the past decade, the long-suffering Royals won two American League pennants and a World Series — though they are now in the midst of a massive rebuilding effort. Not that they've become irrelevant. They're in the planning stages to replace the aging jewel of Kauffman Stadium with a new downtown stadium, which promises to be the centerpiece of a ballpark village and entertainment complex.
There's another stadium under construction, too, for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League — the team lost the NWSL title game to the Portland Thorns in late October. Mahomes owns a stake in that club, along with pieces of the Royals and MLS club Sporting Kansas City.
Next month, the NCAA Tournament is bringing a regional final to T-Mobile Center, and there's a chance Kansas will be there trying to defend its men's basketball national championship. Then in April, the NFL brings its draft circus to town with a sprawling setup centered on the historic Union Station downtown.
"How can it be better?" asked Kathy Nelson, the chief executive of the Kansas City Sports Commission, who grew up with Brett and the Royals and now is helping to organize the draft and other events in the city. "I remember celebrating championships," she said, "but I don't remember a time when we were this stacked."
Most cities have a golden era in sports. Some more than one. And they can sometimes last decades, such as the one in Boston, where over a nearly two-decade span its four pro teams won a combined 12 championships: six Lombardi Trophies for the Patriots, four World Series crowns for the Red Sox, and titles each for the Bruins and Celtics.
Philadelphia and Kansas City are basking in the glow of one right now.
(-Related-)
Why the Chiefs Should Win the Super Bowl: Experience and Talent
PHOENIX (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are on the Super Bowl stage for the third time in four years, the first time triumphantly marching off with the Lombardi Trophy and the second time slinking away home after a lopsided loss in the big game. Patrick Mahomes and Co. know better than anyone winning the Super Bowl is a whole lot better than losing it.
Experience alone gives the Chiefs a major advantage as they prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. But then you throw in Mahomes, the league's newly minted two-time MVP, along with transcendent tight end Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and the rest of the stars of their rebuilt defense, and coach Andy Reid pulling all the right strings and, well, there are plenty of reasons why the Chiefs will be celebrating another championship by the end of the weekend. "I think you have a better understanding of the whole process," Mahomes said of the Super Bowl buildup, "so you can kind of find those little windows where you can get a little extra film study and a little extra rest. "Especially the first one, when I was in Miami, it was kind of, 'You got to go here. You got to go here.' And you were just trying to figure out a way to get it all done. Whereas now I have a better understanding of the process."
Mahomes has a pretty good understanding of just about everything. He set career bests for yards passing with 5,250 this season, led the league with 41 touchdown passes and helped the Chiefs win a seventh consecutive AFC West title, all while juggling plenty of off-the-field life: the birth of his son, ownership in several Kansas City sports franchises and a myriad other business opportunities and investments. It's why he earned 48 of 50 first-place votes for MVP at NFL Honors on Thursday night.
"I think we've just seen him grow as a quarterback. His talent level goes far beyond his ability," Kelce said. "He's a step ahead. He's playing chess out there, like he has three or four moves in his pocket depending on what a defense does. That's why he's going to be the greatest to ever go down." That's an apt title for Kelce among NFL tight ends: the greatest. He's had another historic season, setting both franchise and league records, and only Jerry Rice now has more postseason touchdowns than Kelce does. When the Chiefs lost three wide receivers to injuries in the AFC title game, and Mahomes was hobbling along on his ailing right ankle, he still had his dependable tight end — who had been racked by back spasms early that week — when he was under pressure and needed somewhere to go with the ball.
On the opposite side of the ball, the Chiefs defense rarely gets the credit it deserves. Jones had 15 1/2 sacks in the regular season, two more in the AFC title game and was a finalist for AP Defensive Player of the Year. Frank Clark is quickly climbing the list of career playoff sacks. And a secondary that often throws four rookies onto the field at once shut down Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and his flotilla of receiving threats two weeks ago. "I think we're peaking at the right time, especially after the past three to four weeks," Jones said. "Everyone is ready. We're excited about the game. But we know what we're here for and we're going to keep at it."
Reid wouldn't let them do anything else. This will actually be his fourth time as a head coach in the Super Bowl — he lost his only try with Philadelphia — and for the past two weeks, he's been guiding the Chiefs through their preparations to his typical exacting standard. Every meeting and walk-through and practice has been laid out to the minute, the product of all those years of experience. "This all can take you out of your normal routine," Reid explained. "You try to keep it as close to possible, but you've got the media obligations and a couple other things that they throw in there. But for the most part, we try to keep the practices the same, and we're on the same schedule."
There's an argument to be made that the Eagles have the most complete roster in the NFL, and a side-by-side comparison with the Chiefs might leave the impression that they are the heavy favorites to walk away winners Sunday night. But the Eagles don't have Mahomes or Kelce. They don't have Jones or "Big Red" on the sideline. They also haven't experienced the thrill of a Super Bowl victory or the crushing disappointment of a defeat.
"I don't want to have any regrets," Mahomes said. "When I step off this football field, I understand how lucky I am to be in this organization. I understand how lucky I am to play with guys that are going to be Hall of Famers. And so when I look back at the end of my career, I don't want to look back and be like, 'Man, I didn't give everything I have to win to win Super Bowls,' because of the great people I have around me. When I get done with my career, I want to make sure that I know that I gave everything I had on that football field."
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