Chiefs tailgate DJ tried to belly flop at Lake of the Ozarks. Pure comedy followed | Opinion
Jody Rhew is in his third year as the official DJ for the Bud Light VIP Tailgate party before every Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium. He even has a Kansas City-themed anthem called “We Dem Chiefs.”
I’ve witnessed this die-hard Chiefs fan in action on the turntables. He knows how to rock a crowd. But sometimes even the best party starters fall flat.
Rhew’s recent attempt at a belly flop failed miserably. Because he wasn’t hurt, we can all get a hearty laugh out of this mishap. However, the plunge at the Lake of the Ozarks could have ended much differently. Thank goodness he wasn’t seriously injured diving off a slippery platform at the reservoir in southwest Missouri.
In a video posted to Rhew’s Instagram account, the full-time DJ described the flop as a “penguin plunge into the playoffs.” And what a plunge it was.
“Hey, y’all,” Rhew said as he held the camera on himself. He appeared to walk towards the lake.
“Been seeing all these videos, everybody just belly flopping into some snow,” Rhew continued before he chuckled into the camera. “Belly flopping into snow — that’s some amateur hour stuff.”
The video then shows an animated Rhew as he walks.
“Penguin plunging into the playoffs,” he said. “I told you we were coming for that three-peat. “We three wins away from making history y’all. You know what, I’m about to show you how we jumping into these playoffs y’all. I’m about to go jump into that damn lake. My neighbors are going to think I’m crazy.”
What ensued next was pure comedy. From a raised platform above the lake, Rhew, from an upside down position, spoke into the camera.
“Coming for this three-peat y’all,” he said. Rhew is then shown as he attempted his Chiefs-inspired dive. Rhew said he slipped on ice before he jumped. From what I could gather from the video, he most certainly did.
“Awwwwww,” Rhew said as he fell head first into the icy lake. He then swam back to a ladder that led him out of the water, looked into the camera and said: “That was not a good idea.”
It sure wasn’t.
“Man, I almost died jumping into that damn lake,” Rhew said. “My body went into shock.”
We’ve established the seriousness of what occurred Monday at the Lake of the Ozarks where Rhew resides. And Rhew was a good sport about it when I spoke to him this week. But the video of Rhew’s swan dive left me doubled over in laughter.
Rhew said he wanted to celebrate the Chiefs pending playoff run by doing something most Chiefs fans wouldn’t dare think of — they shouldn’t copy this dangerous stunt anyway. He said he would not advise anyone to try the penguin plunge on their own.
Rhew said when he told his girlfriend that he might attempt the jump again, he said she replied: “The hell you are.”
Rhew said he DJs during the summer months at the Lake of the Ozarks. He said he routinely belly flops into the lake in a onesie.
“That’s my icebreaker,” he said. “Once I do that, the party is on.”
To prove his point, Rhew sent me a different video of a successful belly flop into a lake. The dive occurred in the warmer months and went off without a hitch.
Rhew’s latest attempt to jump-start a celebration didn’t go as planned. And that’s OK. The temperature outside that day was below freezing, Rhew said, and I’m just glad he came away from this polar plunge in one piece.
And I am thankful we both could find humor with his botched leap into the lake.
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 5:06 AM.
