Legacy-clinchers: Who cemented their place in Chiefs history during Super Bowl LIV?

No matter what they do with the rest of their career, every single member of the 2019-20 Kansas City Chiefs roster will always be remembered. Every player made a contribution to the best season the franchise has seen in 50 years.

The size of contributions range from a single block on a play back in Week 2 all the way through to a Super Bowl-sealing interception. The importance of each differs, but each is part of the story of the 2019-20 championship season.

Some of these players will go on to get big pay days elsewhere this offseason, some will be cap casualties and some will move on to another team and possibly win a ring in another city, although we hope that the some that stay in Kansas City will be the ones stopping them from achieving this.

Some of the players and staff will take their stories with them all the way to Canton, whilst some will take their more modest place in Chiefs history.

All of them will live in our hearts forever.

Chiefs immortality

Kendall Fuller

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No player did more to increase his stock during Super Bowl LIV than Kendall Fuller.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Fuller was a full-time safety judging how he performed in the season finale. With Juan Thornhill out, Fuller was asked to step into the rookie safety’s shoes. Seeing that Fuller’s natural position is at corner, it would be safe to say that Chiefs fans were worried about the deep safety position. However, there was no need. The 60 minutes Fuller produced on the biggest stage of them all was simply outstanding, and rightfully so, he got his legacy-clinching moment.

After seeing the 49ers’ defense celebrate what they thought was a game sealing interception just 10 minutes earlier, it was Kendall Fuller who ultimately made the most significant defensive play of Super Bowl LIV by intercepting a Jimmy Garoppolo pass that clinched the Chiefs’ first championship in 50 years.

Damien Williams

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If Kendall Fuller’s big moment enabled you to relax, then it must have been Damien William’s final moment that made you go good-crazy. Needing a first down to make the 49ers burn the rest of their timeouts, Williams went above and beyond our expectations by bouncing to the outside and down the sideline for six.

The image of Williams reaching the end zone whilst pointing the ball in the air towards the crowd will be one that Chiefs fans will never forget. In years to come, we will be telling stories of how we reacted and where we were when Williams scored that touchdown.

As Mitch Holthus said on commentary, “Damien Williams runs to immortality.”

Sammy Watkins

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Just like “Big Game Dame,” many a stories will be told about “Playoff Sammy.”

In a couple of decades, you’ll probably look at Sammy Watkins’ regular-season stats and wonder why the Chiefs paid him so much money, but then you will look at his postseason record and have second thoughts. Simply put, the man on big money came up big in the biggest of stages.

In five playoff games for the Chiefs, “Playoff Sammy” managed 464 receiving yards and a score. These numbers hardly jump out of the screen, but the contribution of Watkins becomes exceptional when you turn on the tape to apply some context.

It was Watkins and Mahomes that dragged the Chiefs back into the 2018 AFC championship game, it was Watkins that scored the touchdown that secured the Chiefs’ spot in this year’s Super Bowl, and it was also Watkins that was able to consistently win against coverage in the Super Bowl.

When the Chiefs needed a spark in the playoffs, Watkins would come up trumps.

We don’t know what the future holds for Watkins and the Chiefs, but when we look back at his time in Kansas City, we will all look at it as $27 million well spent.

Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu

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I’ve paired these two as they epitomized the entire play and attitude of the 2019 version of the Chiefs defense. As soon as they arrived, they bought with them the now Kansas City-famous “championship swagger.”

Whilst the duo didn’t make the splash plays in Super Bowl LIV the players mentioned beforehand did, their roles in giving the Chiefs defense the belief that they deserved to win a Super Bowl cannot be underplayed.

Destined for Canton

Andy Reid

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Many would argue that Andy Reid was destined for Canton regardless of whether or not he could get over the Super Bowl hump. By winning Super Bowl LIV, no one can argue against the fact that “Big Red” will be wearing a gold jacket one day.

After 222 wins and a Super Bowl win, you couldn’t blame Reid if thoughts of retirement begin to creep into his mind, but after getting a taste of that winning feeling, there’s every chance he could be adding more jewelry to his fingers in the coming years.

Travis Kelce

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Some people think he still has something to prove, but just like Patrick Mahomes, Kelce could probably go through the rest of his career with average numbers and still make it to Canton. Yet his greatness still doesn’t silence the doubters.

Since entering the league, Kelce has dominated the receiving stat sheet for all tight ends. No tight end has accumulated as many yards in a four-year period as Kelce has in the previous four campaigns. In fact, his back-to-back-to-back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons were a first for the position. All that was missing was the ring.

In a year where it seemed Kelce was breaking tight end records on the regular, he continued to be regarded as George Kittle’s understudy. Even the Super Bowl itself was tipped to be this titanic clash between the league’s premier tight ends. Whilst one tight end was committing pass interference penalties, the other was drawing them.

It sounds crazy, but even the fact that Kelce won that particular duel should carry a lot of weight when his name comes up for debate in a few years time.

And finally. . .

On his way to the greatest player of all time...

Patrick Mahomes

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Just kidding... or am I?