Watch “The Franchise” here: notebook, discussion, episode poll

“The Franchise” episode one notes

The Kansas City Chiefs debuted their brand new behind-the-scenes TV show, “The Franchise” at 6 p.m. Arrowhead Time. If you missed the show, you can watch above, on Fox Sports Kansas City, or by using the Chiefs’ Facebook or YouTube channel.

Follow along with the show with my notes below:

• The show begins with the AFC title game—with who else narrating? The “Voice of the Chiefs,” Mitch Holthus.
• The next scene leads with a drone shot of Kansas City and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid during breakup day, the day after the AFC title game. “Culture is what you make and how you grow it,” Reid says in an exclusive interview at his desk.
• The show notes the Chiefs’ getting over the hump with a playoff win against the Indianapolis Colts. Reid says that the Monday Night Football Rams game was a signficant learning experience for the Chiefs. “It’s one of those games that sticks out in your mind. Both teams I thought got after each other and played good, aggressive football. That’s a game we lost, but some of the games, we developed into a good football team... A couple of games we lost but they were good football games, but let’s close that gap.”
• Fast-forward to the Pro Bowl. Mahomes meets with Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn and Bills legend Jim Kelly on the field. It’s nice to see Kelly be the one that walks up to Mahomes. Mahomes then leads practice. Eric Fisher and Anthony Sherman explain what being at the Pro Bowl means to them.
• The show shifts to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Jon Gruden explains the Raiders have an advantage by coaching the Senior Bowl. “Obviously, the Kansas City Chiefs were in the final four. We’ve got to match up better... we’ve got to do a better job matching up with Mahomes and the Chiefs.”
• Chiefs general manager Brett Veach invites actor Eric Stonestreet into the room to evaluate what they saw at the Senior Bowl. Stonestreet and Veach playfully go back and forth. In an exclusive desk interview, Veach says that the best part of his job is being in the draft room.
• Stonestreet asks the Chiefs scouting staff what they are looking for in the Senior Bowl tape. “Typically the best guys are your underclassmen who will come out.” Veach says the Senior Bowl makes up the second, third and fourth rounds, primarily.
• Veach on what he’s looking for in offensive linemen: lateral quickness, agility, ability to bend your hips, shoot your hands, anchor, stay square and play balanced. Well done, Nick Allegretti (we’re guessing). Veach says that watching film is not rocket science, and that anybody can figure it out if you watch it enough.
• Enter Steve Spagnuolo. “Really the three things that are vital to defensive football—that’s being able to defeat blocks, great effort and being able to tackle.” Spagnuolo said it meant a lot to him that Veach and the scouts were so willing to listen to what he wanted.
• It’s Tyrann Mathieu day. Mathieu is arriving on a plane. The Franchise shows cuts from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and other national media. Andy Reid explains that the fact he has a nickname in the NFL means something—it’s like a badge of honor.
• It looks like Mathieu is being interviewed on the day he was introduced to the Kansas City media. Mathieu explains it was hard to turn down Kansas City once it became more clear where he wanted to go.
• The living legend, former equipment manager Mike Davidson, explains the importance of Lamar Hunt and the AFL patch on the Chiefs’ jersey.
• It’s the super secret Madden shoot. The photographer, Rafael Estorga, is a secret star of the episode, as he explains what he is looking for when it’s Madden cover shoot day. Mahomes explains when you’re an athlete, you don’t think about the idea of being on the cover of Madden. Mahomes said he’s excited to represent Kansas City.
• Fast forward to the 101 Awards in Kansas City. The show reviews Mahomes’ MVP season before welcoming him to the stage. Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy presents the 101 Awards AFC offensive trophy to Mahomes. “I’m on a great team, in a great environment in a great city, where they’ve really pushed me to succeed,” Mahomes says to cheers.
• It looks like the show will go behind the scenes of the NFL Draft next week, and it teases Bieniemy saying this in the draft room: “I think this kid’s a dynamic route-runner, and I mentioned this to a number of people—this kid reminds me of Chad Johnson when he came out. That’s Ocho Cinco.” We can only assume that is about rookie Mecole Hardman.

Use our comment section to discuss the program live with other Chiefs fans! Our usual AP tailgate open thread will return Thursday night.