Meet the Chiefs fan who hasn’t washed her game-day shirt since Mahomes started in 2018
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.
From wearing (or not wearing) the same clothes every game day, to sitting in that exact same spot, sports fans are no stranger to superstitions.
And Kansas City Chiefs fans are no exception.
Now whether or not they work, that’s for another article. Here, we’re going to meet a New Mexico couple who just might have the most detailed game-day ritual in all Chiefs Kingdom.
For Jane and Dan Jernigan, it all starts with the attire.
Jane puts on her favorite Chiefs shirt, which she says she hasn’t washed since Patrick Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback in 2018. Meanwhile, Dan always wears a black Chiefs shirt underneath his red Patrick Mahomes jersey.
Then, they each put on a Chiefs helmet — one for Mahomes and one for Travis Kelce — even making sure to use the chin strap.
But that’s only before the game, Jane said.
“When I get really anxious and nervous, I go into the closet — and every time, I swear, they score. Every time,” Jane, who’s originally from England, said. “I only come out once I hear the war chant because I know we scored.”
This all started during Super Bowl LIV, when the Chiefs went down big to the 49ers, she said. She went into the closet and, well, the rest is history. The Chiefs came back from a 10-point deficit, scoring 21 straight points to win their first Super Bowl in 50 years.
Of course that’s not all, either. Who you watch the game with has a big impact, too, according to Dan.
During that same Super Bowl, Dan and Jane watched the games with their adult daughters, who had never watched a Chiefs game until that point. After the Chiefs went down 13-10 shortly after halftime, Dan asked them to leave, which they did.
Don’t worry, though. They weren’t actually watching the game anyway, Dan said and smiled.
Join the Red Kingdom Road Trip
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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:
- 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 8, 2024 at 11:02 AM.
