After defeat in Tampa, Kansas City Chiefs fans already looking to next Super Bowl
As the Kansas City Chiefs fell Sunday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fans and local officials expressed disappointment but were already looking forward to next year.
Despite the blistering 31-9 defeat in Super Bowl LV, fans in Kansas City still shot off fireworks. Devotees had hoped for back-to back victories: the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49s in Super Bowl LIV last year.
“Super Bowl LIV > Super Bowl LV,” Mayor Quinton Lucas posted on Twitter with about five minutes left in the game, later writing: “This hurts for a lot of reasons, but partially because we tried this with Joe Montana 28 years ago.”
The Kansas City Police Department said it was proud of the team and how far the players had come. If the game drove fans to drink, police advised them to get a sober ride home and to “stay away from firearms.”
“Til next season, KC!” the agency wrote.
A number of current and former local officials, including Jason Kander, Missouri’s former secretary of state, congratulated Tampa Bay fans. Kander acknowledged Tom Brady, the Buccaneers’ quarterback, “is quite something.”
Singer Melissa Etheridge, who grew up in Leavenworth, said while the ending was not what Chiefs Kingdom wanted, the team would return “to the Super Bowl next year recharged by this.” She thanked the NFL for lifting her up this year.
Earlier in the day, fans bundled up in red and gold gathered in Westport and at the KC Live! venue in the downtown Power & Light District. They tested out the bitter cold to cheer on their team.
Fans said they were ready to “go back to back,” though it didn’t turn out that way.
“I’m sad,” former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill tweeted. “But congrats to the Bucs who played a great game tonight.”
Brittany Matthews, fiancee of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, said she was always proud of him.
“Now let’s have a baby,” Matthews, who is pregnant, tweeted with a laughing emoji.
Meanwhile, as the game was coming to an end, others were already looking forward to the start of baseball season.
“How long til Opening Day @Royals,” the Lenexa Police Department tweeted.
This story was originally published February 7, 2021 at 10:08 PM.
