Ingram’s February 2023

BRINGING THE PARTY HOME Here’s something to chew over: Walk the Chiefs victory parade route from its starting point at Sixth and Grand, all the way to the stage at Union Station, where the partying kicked up a notch. For Reid—the only coach in NFL history who can claim double-digit playoff victories with two teams—the Lombardi Trophy’s residency here is a tribute to Kansas City itself.

If you make that trek, you’ve covered roughly 2,992 yards. Think that’s a lot? Well, it’s only about half of the yardage delivered on the playing fields in 2022 via Patrick Mahomes arm. On his way to what was statistically the best of his five full seasons as the Chiefs quarterback, Mahomes threw for 5,953 yards. And, of course, 48 touchdowns. So he had plenty to boast about when he finally took his place on celebration stage, facing a massive crowd that filled lower Downtown all the way to the top of Liberty Memorial Hill. Plenty to brag about, but he didn’t brag. Instead, he started flinging compliments the way he tosses footballs— all over the place. And he threw out a promise, too. “Before the started season, the AFC West, they said we were rebuilding. I’ll be honest with you: I don’t know what rebuilding means. In our rebuilding, we’re world champs. We appreciate everybody here; Arrowhead Stadium is one of a kind. Chiefs Kingdom one of a kind. This is just the beginning: We ain’t done yet. I hope to hit you all back next year, and hope the crowd is the same.”

“There are some great cities in America, but there’s no place you’d rather be and no greater place than to be right here,” he told the throng of more than half a million packed in around Union Station, up the hill to the Liberty Memorial. “It’s not often you’re able to say you have the greatest team in the world, the greatest players in the world, we have the greatest organization in the world—but most of all, the greatest fans in the world.”

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I ngr am ’ s

February 2023

Ingrams.com

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