Love for Chiefs Kingdom burns bright in Patrick Mahomes’ Texas college town
Editor’s Note: This is a dispatch from our Red Kingdom Road Trip. We’re connecting with Chiefs fans across the country ahead of the Super Bowl — share your story with us using this form. Read more from our journey to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl here on KansasCity.com, in our newsletters, or on The Star’s Instagram.
Today’s Red Kingdom Road Trip dispatch comes to you from Lubbock, Texas, the home of Texas Tech University, where Patrick Mahomes played college football and lit it up as a junior.
We traveled across Lubbock trying to answer one simple question: How much has this tight-knit college town — population 260,993 — embraced Mahomes as the pride of Texas Tech?
Meet the muralist painting Mahomes into Lubbock history
When you drive through Lubbock, Texas, the tight-knit college town of Texas Tech University, it won’t be long before you come across two vibrant, spray-painted murals of Patrick Mahomes.
These often-visited murals were painted by Joey Martinez, 45, a Lubbock native who’s a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. Recently though, he’s had a big reason to root for the Chiefs — and it has everything to do with the Texas kid who has lit the NFL on fire since becoming Kansas City’s starting quarterback in 2018.
It started when Martinez, who was getting his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Texas Tech, bumped into Mahomes on his way to practice.
“I was like, ‘Patrick! Patrick! Dude you’re killing it. You’re going to kill it when you go pro,’” Martinez remembers telling Mahomes, who was the starting quarterback for the Red Raiders at the time. “I would’ve never guessed that he’d be doing as good as he’s been doing.”
The first time Martinez painted Mahomes in public was the night in 2020 when No. 15 led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl win in 50 years. As players and coaches hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, Martinez spent the night spray painting a black-and-white close-up of Mahomes in the shadow of the Texas Tech logo.
The next mural of the Chiefs QB came after last year’s Super Bowl win. Martinez was commissioned to paint Mahomes on the side of a taco shop across the street from Texas Tech’s campus. This time, though, he “didn’t want him in uniform.”
“I wanted something people could relate to,” Martinez explained in front of the bright mural, which depicts Mahomes rocking his signature Oakley sunglasses in a patterned Hawaiian shirt.
Now, as Mahomes heads to his fourth Super Bowl in five years, Martinez, too, is getting to work, finishing a canvas of Mahomes in the sleek, black Texas Tech uniform. He hopes to add the finishing touches after the Super Bowl, namely the Super Bowl rings to Mahomes’ fingers.
“I would love it if Patrick Mahomes could own this,” he laughed.
Texas, birthplace of the Kansas City Chiefs
When his family moved from Northeast Kansas City to Lubbock, Texas, 14-year-old J.R. Morales knew one thing would stay the same: He’d always, always remain a Kansas City Chiefs fan.
Texas is, after all, the original birthplace of Kansas City’s team, Morales, now 60, is quick to point out. Born as the Dallas Texans in 1960, the Chiefs moved up to KC when Lamar Hunt brought the team three short years later.
And since then, Morales’ family have been “die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fans,” he says. Morales grew rup going to games at Arrowhead Stadium, and remembers times when the now-jam-packed stadium was hardly half-full.
“I was one of the ones who suffered through that 50 year drought,” he joked when we met up with him at Caprock Cafe, a local bar in Lubbock he frequents to catch games on the big screen.
Morales has lived in Lubbock since he moved here as a teen, graduating from Texas Tech University and eventually helping run his family’s business. But the red-and-gold-hued string that connects him to KC runs as strong as ever.“
As I’ve gotten older, I have less and less ties to Kansas City. I got married here, I have children here. My kids and grandkids are all Dallas Cowboys fans,” he lamented.
“But there’s just so many cool things about Kansas City that people don’t even realize.”
Mahomes loved it, so we tried it
As our Red Kingdom Road Trip to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas made its stop in Lubbock, Texas, home of Texas Tech University where Patrick Mahomes played college ball, we wondered: What was Mahomes’ favorite place to eat when he was in school?
Sure enough, Mahomes told ESPN what his favorite local restaurant was back in 2016: Spanky’s, a beloved hole-in-the-wall where everything’s fried, including his favorite order, their famous fried cheese.
Or as the Kansas City Chiefs’ star QB put it, their “legendary” fried cheese, which comes 6 for $10.50.
“The fried cheese has always been one of our staples,” owner Lisa West said. “And it’s exactly the same” as it was when the restaurant opened 42 years ago, right across the street from Texas Tech’s main campus.
Chiefs Kingdom is growing thanks to Swifties
Kaylee Stone of Erie, Pennsylvania was recently interviewed on her local TV news station, Jet-24 Action News, for being the only Chiefs fan at a brewery full of Buffalo Bills supporters.
“I was a little nervous. I knew the owner would joke around with me, but nothing serious,” she told The Star. “I came back to the brewery a week later, and there was a huge Bills flag hanging above where I was sitting.”
Stone first got interested in the Chiefs while playing fantasy football nearly a decade ago, and was immediately drawn to fellow Ohio native Travis Kelce. Later, while living in St. Joseph, she got to attend two games in person at Arrowhead stadium and even snagged Kelce’s autograph.
Now, living in Erie, she shares her love of the Chiefs with a growing number of fellow fans.
“I did find another Chiefs fan in Erie when we moved here — my husband’s colleague,” she said. “And thanks to all the Swifties, the Chiefs are seeing more love in the area.”
Earned respect
Jennifer Bryant of Pine Knot, Kentucky never really cared about football — but that all changed the first time she saw the Chiefs play.
“To be honest, it’s not just the football that made me hooked — it’s the love and respect this team has for everyone it plays,” Bryant told The Star. “I’m from Kentucky and to get respect, you have to earn it. Well, this team earned it from me.”
Bryant added that the Chiefs’ positive attitude, community service work and refusal to trash-talk their opponents made her a lifelong fan. She sent in a photo of her husband Joshua and brother-in-law Jeremy sporting their Chiefs gear with pride at their jobs at a Kroger grocery store.
“I scream at the TV now — never used to do that, but these Chiefs bring it out in you,” she said. “You don’t have to be from Kansas City to be a fan. I will be a Chiefs fan till the day God takes me home.”
Join the Red Kingdom Road Trip
We want to highlight how much fans across the country love the Chiefs, because we know how much they mean to Kansas City. So, help us find you along the way to the Super Bowl. Share your story here.
Keep following our trip here on KansasCity.com and on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Here’s where we’ll be stopping over the next several days:
- Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday, Feb. 7
- Scottsdale, Arizona, on Thursday, Feb. 8
- Sedona, Arizona, on Friday, Feb. 9
- Flagstaff, Arizona, on Friday, Feb. 9
- Las Vegas, Nevada, on Friday, Feb. 9
This story was originally published February 7, 2024 at 12:03 PM.