Bob Costas Is Right, Missouri Has America’s Team!

Last February, legendary sportscaster Bob Costas appeared on CNN's show King Charles and asserted that the Kansas City Chiefs are America's Team. He's right.

Let's examine why Costas thinks the Chiefs are America's team. You can watch the video of his appearance on CNN here. While Costas acknowledged the Cowboys long-standing use of the phrase, he pointed out that the Cowboys haven't gone to the Super Bowl since the mid-'90s. He also admitted that the Detroit Lions probably would have been the sentimental favorite if they had gone to the Super Bowl last year.

Of course, they didn't, and he acknowledged that the 49ers had a pretty good story, too. However, he didn't say this; this is my opinion: the 49ers just don't come off like a Cinderella story, like the Lions would have if they made the Super Bowl. I probably wouldn't have felt too bad if the Lions beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. But that's all what-ifs and wishful thinking.

Costas said the Chiefs are America's team because we have the best quarterback in the league, who is exciting and can improvise. Andy Reid is a fantastic coach. We've got Travis Kelce, who already was big and became more prominent when you throw the Taylor Swift romance into the mix, and you have the State Farm Insurance commercials.

Costas continued, "You don't have to know a screen pass from a field goal to know something about the Kansas City Chiefs."

All of that is true, and I would add that the Chiefs, especially Mahomes, Kelce, and Coach Reid, make watching the game fun. Their personalities and how they play the game make it fun for even the most casual football fans, as Michael Jordan entertained many casual football fans.

Geoff Magliochetti, in a Sports Illustrated webpage dedicated to the Dallas Cowboys, credits Dallas Cowboys columnist Mike Fisher with explaining why all of this is bunk.  Magliochetti writes:

"It's non-transferable. It's THE COWBOYS NICKNAME - just as Pittsburgh has "The Steel Curtain'' and just as Missouri is "The Show-Me State'' and just as Ali is "The Greatest. Fish's point: Nicknames don't change on whims. Nicknames aren't based on newly-crowned Super Bowl winners. Nicknames belong to their owners. Period."

Yeah, right. I'm not sure the West Texas faithful that cheered Patrick Mahomes on at Texas Tech would agree. I spent six years in Lubbock, made many friends there, and I can't tell you the last time one of them posted something, anything, about the Dallas Cowboys. Yet, I've had more than a few conversations with them talking about the Chiefs. And when they sit down to watch football on Sunday, they're watching Mahomes and the Chiefs.

The truth is that any sports team's marketing machine can come up with a slogan like "America's Team," but that doesn't make it accurate or truthful.

Are the Chiefs America's Team? I don't know. As our guys continue to win and frustrate many NFL teams and make multiple Super Bowl appearances, they will rub some folks the wrong way. So does the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Romance. After all it's in vogue to hate the king of the mountain.

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Yet many will tune in whenever the Chiefs are on and watch the magic, and frankly, that's really what earns a team this nickname.

So, move over Texas. We've got America's team right here in Missouri and there's nothing you can do about it.