A theory about the Kansas City Chiefs’ strategy with The Tomahawk (or ‘Arrowhead’) Chop
Three days after announcing they’d allow fans at games this week the Chiefs made news again, only it wasn’t exactly news to those who’ve been paying attention. It may have been more like a trial balloon.
That’s my theory, anyway. Let me explain.
The Chiefs will not allow fans to wear headdresses or “any face paint that is styled in a way that references or appropriates American Indian cultures and traditions” at Arrowhead Stadium.
Again, yes, news. But we’ve known this is where they would go for some time. War bonnets are the easy part. There is no opposition to their ban. The Chiefs have discouraged them for years, actually, and experienced very little feedback.
If you’re one of the few affected by this, sorry for you to find out here, but you’ve looked ridiculous. Most people just didn’t tell you. Kansas City nice.
But now the deck has cleared for what the Chiefs have always known is the real decision, the one about The Chop.
Officially, the Chiefs say they are “engaged in a thorough review process” of The Chop. Or Tomahawk Chop.
They don’t even call it either of those things, actually. Not officially. They call it the Arrowhead Chop, which is pretty slick on at least two levels. It’s good branding, and it distances the Chiefs — just a little bit, but still — from appropriating Native American culture and imagery.
Slick, yes. But the Chiefs know it’s not a solution.
The Chiefs’ problem, simplified to one paragraph:
Internally, they know the chop is outdated and offensive to enough people that a sober analysis would stop it. But their fans love it, consider it an important part of the Arrowhead experience, and a large number will revolt if the chop is banned.
Amplifying the moment, they also know the chances of this becoming a bigger problem — no matter their ultimate decision — are exponentially greater in this particular election year.
That’s a lot of moving parts for the team to get tangled in, for the Super Bowl victory lap to be muddied even more than everything is muddied in 2020.
The Chiefs last moved on The Chop in the 1990s. They banned it and, collectively, fans flipped out. The decision was reversed almost immediately.
That was a long time ago — the standards were very, very different — but the experience echoes inside the organization.
The current Chiefs leadership — and this is headed by team president Mark Donovan — has done homework here. They’ve prepared. They partnered with Native American groups locally and regionally, and had discussions with groups nationally.
A fair criticism exists that they’ve stacked the deck. Native Americans do not have a unanimous view on this anymore than any demographic does on anything. The Chiefs have not talked to any groups who believe the name should be changed, for instance, and it’s unclear how many (if any) believe the chop should stop.
But credit the Chiefs for trying. For listening. For actively seeking out guidance. It’s helped them avoid the disaster of the Washington Football Team, and put the franchise in a much stronger position going forward.
Now that work is largely done. The easy decisions have all been made. Now comes The Chop.
This won’t be easy, no matter where you stand on the spectrum. If The Chop makes you cringe, it doesn’t change the fact that thousands and by now generations of Chiefs fans see it as an important part of what they look forward to at games, that they see it as unifying.
And if you love The Chop, and intend no offense, it doesn’t change the fact that many of those in position to be offended — marginalized Native Americans — are, and will never understand why you need a cartoonish chant to be excited for third down.
As if this wasn’t complicated enough, this crossroads is coming as passion for the Chiefs has rarely (never?) been higher, and attendance will be severely limited. What would the chop even look or sound like with 16,000 people in masks (some of them, anyway), compared to 76,000?
Does the goodwill of a Super Bowl and the magic of Patrick Mahomes give the franchise armor to make a decision they know will be unpopular locally but align with national trends?
Or do the financial stakes of the moment — revenue down everywhere, even for Super Bowl champions — mean the Chiefs must make what they know would be the favored decision of the bulk of their most passionate fans?
It’s a wild thing to think about, because even as so much has changed this year, the video of thousands of Chiefs fans filling Hard Rock Stadium with the chop during the Super Bowl could be officially outdated just months later.
One more complication: say the Chiefs officially ban The Chop, well, what does that even look like?
The Chop is not a headdress that you can remove at the gate. The team would stop playing the beat, sure, but does anyone believe fans won’t chop on their own? Would or could the team do anything about that?
Donovan has acknowledged it’s “a tough spot,” and those words are truer the more you think about it.
The Chiefs pride themselves on being leaders. With community involvement, charity work, and bringing the city and region together. But here, short of having Patrick Mahomes tape a message of support either way, it’s hard to see how whatever decision the Chiefs make will be taken as anything other than divisive.
That’s why the trial balloon theory makes sense.
The Chiefs are indirectly asking their fans to lead. They want to hear what you think.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 2:22 PM.