The Chiefs belong to all of us, but Kansas delegates staked their claim at DNC | Opinion

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The Kansas City Chiefs belong to Missouri and Kansas. The two states really shouldn’t be in competition for a team we all love and share.

But if it is a competition, Kansas scored a big-league touchdown on Tuesday night.

During the roll call of states at the Democratic National Convention — a boisterous, booster-ous affair that allows each delegation to tout their state’s virtues and party bona fides — the Kansas delegation appeared dressed almost entirely in Chiefs regalia.

“Kansas City Chiefs Twitter is about (to) wake up,” former congressional candidate Matt Kleinmann, a onetime University of Kansas basketball player, wrote on social media.

Kansas Democratic Party chair Jeanna Repass greeted the TV audience “from the center of America, the Sunflower State, Kansas! Where our farmers feed America! Where we elect strong women who govern from the middle! As the first-ever Black chair in Kansas, I am proud to cast our 39 votes for the first Black woman president, Kamala Harris!”

She never mentioned the Chiefs. But the camera — at least on the feed I was watching — pulled back to show her in a sea of red.

It looked like Red Friday, honestly.

Red state blues

Members of the Kansas delegation said it was part troll and part showing support for moving the Chiefs to the Sunflower State.

“I think we’re making Missouri sweat a bit,” said Repass. “We’ve been getting some dirty looks from across the room.

“I think they’re a little jealous they didn’t think of it first.”

The Missouri delegation, headed by Russ Carnahan, didn’t look like Chiefs fans. They looked like, well, delegates to a national political convention. Carnahan, in a tie and nice jacket, seemed a bit nonplussed.

“We’re HOME to the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs,” he announced.

Too little. Too late. The damage was done.

“Sometimes when we do things it’s bad form,” said Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. “That was not thrilling for us.”

As far as the Chiefs ever leaving Missouri, “They can always dream,” said Missouri delegate Yvonne Reeves-Chong.

Now: Should we believe that the Kansas City Chiefs will decide their future — Kansas or Missouri — based on which state delegation showed the team more love and loud loyalty on Tuesday night?

And should we believe that Democrats, who come nowhere near a majority in either state, have that kind of power?

Should we believe the future of the Super Bowl champs was decided in Chicago?

Eh. Probably not.

Who will get the team?

As we all know, the real winner of that competition will probably be decided by whichever state can throw more incentives at the team.

But you never know. Sometimes it all comes down to love.

Ideally, that would be how these kinds of things actually get decided. It’s sad that the neighboring states have let themselves be pitted against each other to win the hand of the Chiefs, that we’re doing the self-defeating economic Border War all over again.

But it would be a whole lot more fun if the competition came down to who showed the team the most love, wouldn’t it?

Not the most money. The most love — the willingness to look absolutely nuts in front of a live national television audience. A pro football version of “Lassie Come Home.”

That’s not the way it works. But at least we got a smile out of it.

And hey, we all know Kansas and Missouri are both deep red states. Who would’ve expected Kansas would prove itself even redder at the Democratic convention?

Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.

Wichita Eagle Opinion Editor Dion Lefler contributed to this commentary.

This story was originally published August 20, 2024 at 8:52 PM with the headline "The Chiefs belong to all of us, but Kansas delegates staked their claim at DNC | Opinion."