Why are the Chiefs playing in Brazil? Their welcome gave us a tell-tale sign

If any Chiefs were perplexed about why they were traveling more than 10,000 miles round-trip to open their 2025 NFL season in a country that overwhelmingly prefers traditional futbol to the American version, they sure had resounding evidence in the first 12 hours they were here.

For starters, hundreds of fans clad in Chiefs gear and bearing signs greeted them with various degrees of giddiness as the team passed through customs late Wednesday night. Captured on video by NFL Brasil’s social media, they chanted Patrick Mahomes’ surname, shouted out to Chris Jones and shrieked a good bit for Travis Kelce.

Mahomes called the scene “amazing” and thought it was “really cool to see that the Kansas City Chiefs are known here in Brazil, and they’re known well and that we have a ton of fans here.”

But the more striking and telling spectacle was during and after the players’ Thursday morning walkthrough in final preparations for their game against the Los Angeles Chargers at 7 p.m. Central on Friday at Corinthians Arena.

According to the NFL, some 200 media members from eight nations were there to chronicle about 10 minutes of stretching exercises at Clube Atletico São Paulo — a spartan facility where rugby crossbars served to remind of its history — and then wedged their way into an interview room suited for perhaps 75 people.

What unfolded next was an affirmation of why the NFL’s “it” team, a status the Chiefs had earned well before the Taylor Swift multiplier amplified it all the more, seemed right where it belonged.

The scene was highlighted by the rare format of Mahomes and Kelce taking questions at the same time.

As often as we’ve seen their uncanny chemistry on the field, we seldom see it in these sorts of interactions.

Which in this case began with Kelce imitating Mahomes’ distinct gravelly voice when The Star’s Sam McDowell asked him what it had been like at the airport the night before.

“‘Oh, man, it was crazy,’” Kelce began in Mahomes-mode as Mahomes alongside busted up laughing. “‘It was a lot of fun seeing all the fans there, and, uh …’”

Then Kelce pivoted back to his own voice and added, “He had that one coming for telling everybody I didn’t know where Brazil was on the map.”

But here they were, in the sprawling region of some 22 million people, radiating about everything the NFL might wish to promote in advance of the game itself.

In the process, of course, the Chiefs enhanced their own brand as they keep flexing their ambition to become known as the “World’s Team” — a concept they’ve been working toward a long while before chairman and CEO Clark Hunt was on the cover of Newsweek for a related story.

Add it all up, and it’s no wonder Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said “we feel privileged to be able to be an ambassador of sorts.”

So much so that Reid, who doubtless doesn’t like speaking with the media the day before a game, bore a relatively relaxed demeanor and almost certainly made the international press feel he appreciated their questions and interest in the team and the game.

Then there was the ever-animated defensive end Jones, who seemed to captivate the media with his raving about Pele: “the best ever, the best ever, the best ever.”

And with his self-assessment as the best in the NFL at his position: He could go on and one about why, he said, smiling, but didn’t want to bore them.

And also with his further theatrics, particularly while taking a camera up on stage just as Kelce was being asked about how his life has changed since he started dating Swift — to whom he recently became engaged.

“I got one more ring from it,” Kelce deadpanned.

More seriously, he said “ever since I’ve been dating Taylor, life has been fun. You know, it’s been exciting. Obviously, a lot more eyes, and I accept that.”

He paused and added, “I’m living life, you know, living on a high, I guess.”

Chimed in Mahomes: “It’s a dream, dude.”

Since Kelce is in the final year of his contract and will be 36 next month, it’s widely believed this will be his last season.

So he also was asked anew if this was the last dance.

“For who? For me?” he said. “Man, it’s the last one on the contract right now. But I tell you what: I’m feeling young, and I’m feeling ready to rock, baby.”

The real potential impact to be made will be Friday, of course, when the Chiefs and Chargers will play in just the second NFL game in this city within a country of 212 million-plus on a continent of more than 400 million.

It figures to be years, if not decades, before the NFL has a surge in popularity from where it rates here now: Per Forbes, after all, America’s Game is growing in Brazil but still ranks near the bottom of the nation’s top 10 sports behind, among others, surfing and MMA.

Nevertheless, the Chiefs are feeling an entirely different vibe.

“This is something that we’ll all remember,” Kelce said.

And something they’ll be remembered for — likely all the more so after Friday night.

“I’ll be sure to make sure,” Kelce said, “I say hello to everybody in the crowd.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 5:26 PM.

Vahe Gregorian

The Kansas City Star

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Vahe Gregorian has been a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star since 2013 after 25 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has covered a wide spectrum of sports, including 10 Olympics. Vahe was an English major at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his master’s degree at Mizzou.