Kansas City Chiefs fans have allegiances on both sides of Super Bowl LX between Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots
Kansas City Chiefs fans might have a tough time choosing who to root for in Super Bowl LX.
The Kansas City Chiefs won’t participate in Super Bowl LX after three consecutive seasons appearing in the big game. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean fans won’t have a rooting interest and a reason to get excited for this matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
The Chiefs actually have some ties on both sides of the aisle in this particular Super Bowl matchup, but picking a single side in the game might be tough. On one side, there’s a coach who spent two seasons at the end of his career in Kansas City. On the other side, there’s a one-year starter who was an underrated piece of a defense that made it to the AFC Championship Game.
Former Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel is the head coach of the New England Patriots
While most anyone who is a fan of the 15 other teams in the AFC will have a hard time rooting for the Patriots, it might be a tad easier for Chiefs fans given the organization’s ties to New England’s head coach.
When Kansas City acquired QB Matt Cassel in a trade with the Patriots in 2009, then 33-year-old Mike Vrabel was a throw-in on the deal. He played his final two NFL seasons with the Chiefs, starting 30 games for the team. During that span, he recorded 100 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, seven passes defended, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He was also used in the red zone on offense at times, catching two passes for three yards and two touchdowns.
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It wasn’t glamorous, as Vrabel only won 14 of those 30 games played with the Chiefs, but it was more than an asterisk at the end of a great NFL playing career.
“I remember being a team that was [4-12] one year and 10-6 the next one — won the division — I was proud of that,” Vrabel said back in 2019. “The fans — I remember the fans. The Hunt family — great people. It was a great place to finish up my career, a great town, the kids loved it.”
A win against the Seahawks would mark Vrabel’s first Super Bowl win as a head coach, but he’s a three-time winner with the Patriots as a player (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX).
Former Chiefs DT Jarran Reed is a starter on the Seahawks’ Super Bowl defense
Jarran Reed signed a one-year deal and became an underrated piece of the Chiefs’ defense during the 2021 NFL season. He started all 20 games they played that year (including playoffs). He was fairly productive, recording 43 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, 12 QB hits, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a pass batted. After his year was up, he took to social media to show his love for the team and fanbase.
“Thank you Kansas city my time at arrowhead was amazing playing for coach Reid was a dream made some great friends on to the next chapter,” Reed wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
While he later clarified he was simply thanking coaches & fans, 2021 would be his only season in Kansas City. He’d join the Green Bay Packers on a one-year deal before rejoining the Seattle Seahawks in 2023, his home for the past three seasons, and the team that drafted him out of the University of Alabama back in 2016.
This season in Seattle, Reed is a rotational defensive tackle for the Seahawks this season, playing behind Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams. He’s appeared in 13 games with three starts on the year, recording 31 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks.
Reed missed out on the Legion of Boom’s Super Bowl win in Seattle, so a win over the Patriots would mark his first-ever Super Bowl win.