Speaking on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football show on Tuesday morning, host Peter Schrager talked about what it was like to be around Kansas City Chiefs fans as they watched their team defeat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, becoming world champions for the first time in 50 years.
The show’s hosts were talking about what they will remember most about Sunday’s game.
"My lasting image of the Super Bowl will be the droves of @Chiefs fans in tears after the game. This wasn't just about Reid, Mahomes, and the Hunt family. It's about 50 years of waiting and 60 minutes of white knuckling until the final whistle." -- @PSchrags | @ArrowheadPride pic.twitter.com/3Y7U1r3laB
— GMFB (@gmfb) February 4, 2020
”Let’s just call it like it is,” said Schrager. “We were in that stadium. The four of us [the GMFB hosts] were sitting together. There were Chiefs fans everywhere. And it was a white-knuckle game for four quarters. It was never — never — in their hands. The nerves, the tension, the anxiety.
“And then to experience the absolute joy of finally winning a Super Bowl — and to just see that on the faces of the actual fans — forget the players — the fans! You know that this is why you dedicate those Sundays to watching football. This is why you watch the NFL draft. And this is why you watch our show in May and June: because there’s a chance that the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, we’re talking about your team. That’s what I think of: the Chiefs fans and Chiefs Kingdom this morning being able to relish why we love football.”
Schrager had already spoken about how the Chiefs’ victory could give hope to other fan bases.
“I think of the fan base,” he said. “50 years in waiting. As much as I want to make this about Kansas City, I think of all the other fan bases in the world. The Chicago Cubs waited 108 years, right? The Boston Red Sox waited 86 years. The Philadelphia Eagles waited 78 years. Now it makes me think — if I’m a Cleveland Browns fan — like, ‘It’s possible!’ I’m a Detroit Lions fan. It’s possible. If I’m a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, it’s possible. There could be our day.”
And that is possible for those NFL franchises. But from the perspective of Chiefs fans — at least for the time being — first they’ll have to get past the Chiefs.