Holthus at 400: Chiefs Kingdom’s voice for a quarter century reaches milestone
Nobody prepares for a broadcast more diligently than Mitch Holthus. For 25 years as the Chiefs’ play-by-play man, Holthus has spent countless hours watching tape, taking notes and developing themes for each game.
But he was caught off-guard Monday night in Denver, and not just when Patrick Mahomes ad-libbed a left-handed pass for a first down on the Chiefs’ game-winning drive.
The game was Holthus’ 400th in the regular season over 25 seasons for the Chiefs, and Dan Israel, executive producer of the Chiefs Radio Network, had lined up guests to congratulate Holthus and put together tributes that were dropped in throughout the broadcast.
Team owner Clark Hunt even stepped into the booth to present Holthus with a game ball.
“You’ve been such a special part of our organization for over 20 years, calling every big moment in Chiefs history over that period of time,” Hunt said as Holthus choked up.
Coach Andy Reid and quarterback Mahomes offered congratulations. So did family members, including the angelic voices of Lily, 7, and Cora, 4, Holthus’ granddaughters. No more holding emotions in check.
Hi Grandpa Mitch this is Lily. Hi Grandpa Mitch this is Cora. And we’re going to tell you, Touchdown Kan-Za-City. We love you.
“That was it,” Holthus said. “I was done.”
The funny thing is, Holthus said, one of his keys to the game was focus. This was Monday Night Football, a division rival on the road, and the team remaining on task would have the edge.
“And there was I was, losing it,” Holthus said.
All’s well that ended well. The Chiefs prevailed in thrilling fashion, overcoming a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit for their fourth straight victory, and Holthus got through the evening and a memorable weekend of honoring what has become one of the region’s most recognizable and popular voices and media personalities.
Not to mention contributor to the lexicon.
That’s right. “Chiefs Kingdom” is a Holthus creation. About 15 or so years ago, he was looking to define the reach of the franchise beyond the Kansas City area. The Chiefs occupy one of the NFL’s largest geographical areas based on social media surveys and have radio affiliates in 12 states.
“I’ve always felt the Chiefs are one of the great unifying things we have in our region, and it’s been such a privilege for me to represent it,” Holthus said. “It blurs state lines, it ties urban to rural maybe more than any franchise besides Green Bay.
“It’s the third-shift worker at the auto plant, the farmer planting fall crops, the family with the backyard barbeque.”
He sought a way to bring football togetherness under a title. Kingdom made more sense to Holthus than “nation,” which was making the rounds with teams in football and other sports. Nobility is implied, but that’s how Holthus feels about the Hunt family. Clark Hunt’s father, Lamar, created the franchise and was a founder of the AFL.
Holthus had been using kingdom on air for several years. When Reid arrived in 2013, the organization went all in on the concept. Flags, T-shirts, season-ticket sales, a “Kingdoms Unite” campaign when the team played in England in 2015 — all were stamped with Holthus’ creation.
Every kingdom needs a slogan, and Holthus provides that as well, every time a Chiefs player crosses the end zone.
“Touchdown! Kan-Za-City!”
Touchdown calls always came with zeal, but one player was responsible for the staccato rhythm with the exclamation point.
Dante Hall.
“It kind of trickled in in the late ‘90s, and it really caught fire in 2002, 2003, with some of Dante’s returns,” Holthus said.
Seven of Hall’s 12 touchdowns on kick and punt returns, some in spectacular fashion, occurred during those years, and Holthus captured the moments with what has become his signature call, expressed for a majority of the 1,000-plus Chiefs touchdowns he has described.
Holthus has re-created the call, or a version of it, for commercials and gets “Touchdown Kan-Za-City!” requests when out in public. He has been asked to recite the call for ring tones, at weddings, even in church.
“The thing I love is when I hear little kids do it,” Holthus said.
When Holthus was a child, born and raised in Smith Center, Kan., he wore a tattered No. 16 Chiefs shirt pretending to be Len Dawson, the Hall of Fame quarterback with whom he would share the booth for more than two decades. In his backyard, Holthus stretched his imagination and played in a different AFC West stadium every day. “I was in San Diego one day, Oakland the next,” he said.
He played sports year-round but in high school excelled at forensics and debate. Holthus got into broadcasting as a Kansas State student and found a way to cover women’s basketball: He had gotten to know a guard on the team, Tami Johnson, who became his wife.
Holthus started down a law-school path, but the pull toward broadcasting became too strong. His first job was at a station in Pratt, Kan., where he sold advertising and covered the junior-college team plus 35 high schools.
He returned to his alma mater in 1983 to succeed current Royals broadcaster Steve Physioc as voice of the Wildcats. Holthus’ time at Kansas State covers the final years of Lon Kruger as men’s basketball coach and the earliest of Bill Snyder as football coach.
The NFL always had a great appeal to Holthus, and he was a finalist for play-by-play jobs with the Vikings, Bears and Falcons.
“I was Miss Congeniality each time,” Holthus said.
But in 1994, Kevin Harlan left the Chiefs booth to join Fox and Holthus’ dream of calling the NFL was fulfilled. For two hectic years, he was the voice of two teams, Kansas State and the Chiefs.
“It about killed me,” Holthus said. “You cannot get from Norman, Oklahoma after a 2 p.m., game to Buffalo, New York, for a noon game the next day. But I did, somehow.”
The craziest double involved calling a late-afternoon game at Kansas State and getting to Seattle the next day. It entailed a ride in a patrol car with the lights flashing, a golf cart to the terminal with about 10 minutes to spare, and no sleep before the Chiefs’ game.
By 1996, Holthus was in the Chiefs’ booth only, and he has been the voice for some of the greatest and most heart-breaking moments in team history. Reid is his seventh head coach of his tenure, Mahomes the 17th different player to start at quarterback. There have been more winning seasons than losing, more playoff losses than victories.
The 400 games include one that Holtus called in 1991, when Harlan auditioned for a network job. It does not include the 106 preseason games the Chiefs have played in that time. Holtus has called every one of them.
As this promising season unfolds — the Chiefs join the Los Angeles Rams as the NFL’s lone 4-0 teams headed into Sunday’s home game against Jacksonville — Holthus said he is often asked for his favorite moment or call in his Chiefs career.
“I tell people, it hasn’t happened yet,” Holthus said. “We’re waiting on that one.”
When it does, the call will echo throughout Kan-Za City ... and the entire Chiefs Kingdom.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thanks to everyone who helped make today special for Mitch. What a great one!! And <a href="https://twitter.com/mitchholthus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mitchholthus</a> ... it’s been a blessing! ...many more to come. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KCvDEN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KCvDEN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/chiefskindom?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#chiefskindom</a> <a href="https://t.co/b5LEDi0R4g">pic.twitter.com/b5LEDi0R4g</a></p>— Dan Israel (@danisraelkc) <a href="https://twitter.com/danisraelkc/status/1046986978389049345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats Mitch Holthus for your 400 game and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChiefsKingdom?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChiefsKingdom</a> for a big time win. <a href="https://t.co/UxekOSc420">pic.twitter.com/UxekOSc420</a></p>— Will Shields (@Wshields68) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wshields68/status/1047084568275292160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations <a href="https://twitter.com/mitchholthus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mitchholthus</a>, who called his 400th game last night. I still remember you coming down to my hometown to support me great person.</p>— Jamaal Charles (@jcharles25) <a href="https://twitter.com/jcharles25/status/1047161894338015232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Blair Kerkhoff
Blair Kerkhoff covers the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and college sports for The Star.
This story was originally published October 5, 2018 at 12:10 PM.