Mascot Madness – Kansas City Chiefs

In 2020, we are seeing athletes, sponsors, and fans ask their teams and universities to make a real change to their image across the sports landscape. One easy, simplistic way to begin that change is through language. Names we use to refer to schools, mascots, buildings, and team names carry weight. Changing them is definitely a way to stop honoring those on the wrong side of history. As seen recently, the Washington Racial Slurs are planning on changing their name (and we have some ideas to help!). The Cleveland Indians have also recently debated their own name (and we have some ideas to help them, too!). But what about a problematic mascot of a (gasp!) good team? Like, a Super Bowl Champion with a 24-year-old MVP Quarterback signed on through 2021? Yes… The Kansas City Chiefs are the definition of the future of football, should their name and mascot be a reflection of that same future?

This is not a new conversation for Kansas City’s football club. Just earlier this month, the franchise publicly stated they are now prohibiting head dresses of indigenous persons and face paint meant to mimic Native American cultures. The “discouraging” of fans from the aforementioned practices for several years had apparently not been enough, and the ownership understands they need to move away from the imagery. Kansas City will also be “investigating” the Arrowhead chop and other fan experience things around the stadium, but has not publicly stated what they will or won’t do about it (it is worth noting, Kansas City fans are not alone in celebrating with a “chop.” The Florida State University Seminoles and Atlanta Braves baseball team both are famous for it stateside, and the Exeter Chiefs English soccer club uses it across the pond). 

While we could write a long, long post as to what the definition of “discouraging,” “prohibit,” or “ investigating” mean… We will leave that up to Webster’s. The truth is, all of that is tied back to one theme: the team is called the Kansas City Chiefs. They play at Arrowhead Stadium. Until 1989, their fans were led by Warpaint the Pinto Horse, and since they’ve used K.C. Wolf as their mascot. 

Kansas City is doing all the work to change the images seen in their stadium, albeit slowly… but wouldn’t all of that fix itself if they just weren’t called the Chiefs? 

The Chiefs Kingdom (yes, that’s what they call their fanbase…) may have an issue with it, but quell the worries. There are so many creative things the Chiefs could go with, like their previous name the- Texans? Oh wait like Houston Texans? Oh they were the Dallas Texans before?

The Dallas Texans moved to Kansas City just before the 1963 season, and rebranded themselves as the Kansas City Chiefs. Even though their last game in Dallas was an American Football League Championship game, the Kansas City Texans just didn’t roll off the tongue very well. Owner Lamar Hunt, who is credited with __, relocated to Kansas City and renamed the team Chiefs in honor of the city’s mayor. Mayor “Chief” Bartle was very influential in moving the franchise, and Hunt thought it was a great ode to him. 

Bartle had earned the “chief” nickname in Boy Scouts. Bartle, decades earlier, created a scout group called Tribe “Mic-O-Say.” In the scout group, Bartle and his chapter re-enacted several indigenous traditions to the best of their abilities. 

While Bartle has a rich and celebrated history in Kansas City, there is reason for folks to be upset at the Chiefs moniker. Truth be told, the team has done a lot more to reflect a native tradition than one of boy scouts or a mayoral office. 

Luckily for Kansas City, we at Belly Up are here to help! Check out the names we came up with below, and be sure to vote at the bottom!

Parker’s Idea: The Kansas City Blue Devils

Yeah, yeah, yeah… I hear ya. The Blue Devils are an iconic mascot in college basketball, they’re not the iconic red and yellow, and they’re not even real. Except that’s just the thing… in Kansas City, blue devils are very real. 

The term came to be in Kansas City because a 1979 documentary, The Last of the Blue Devils, documented the history of the Kansas City Jazz scene. The “Blue Devils” are KC based jazz stars like Count Basie or Big Joe Turner. The doc follows a few concerts and shows very closely, but the goal here is to extend the moniker to the greater Kansas City jazz scene. Further, the re-use of the term “devil” is important. Many called jazz music “devilish,” in its early days in large part due racial makeup of the artists across the country playing it. Repentance for calling jazz the “devil’s music” would be making it the coolest team to watch: the team with the half-a-billion dollar man at quarterback for the next decade-plus. The team that scores touchdowns like their baskets in a basketball game.

Charlie “Bird” Parker, Bennie Moten, and Lester Young each need their music played loud all over Kansas City’s stadium, here on known as the Big Band Hall. While Bird Parker was known as an individual as well as a member of a band, the true resonance of Kansas City Jazz is the formation of Big Band jazz. Individual artists may play the dinner hours at local restaurants and clubs, but the nightlife was propelled by the big bands jamming and riffing off of one another into the wee hours of the morning. 

The fun of this branding comes in the plays off of jazz music. One mascot could be “Bebop,” another could be “riff.” The various blue devils would get to dance to and celebrate the city’s rich history of jazz music. The city already hosts a jazz museum in the 18th and Vine district of town, it’s time to get the most publicly recognized thing in Kansas City to share the same history. 

Chaka’s Idea: Kansas City Chefs

You know that movie, Groundhog Day with Bill Murray where the same thing keeps happening over and over again?

You know that movie, Groundhog Day with Bill Murray where the same thing keeps happening over and over again?

You know that movie, Groundhog Day with Bill Murray where the same… nah, I’m just playin’!

Seriously, though; why do so many teams need to step up to the plate and embrace this lesson around Native American people and culture?!

Like, for real- for real; PEOPLE’S CULTURE ARE NOT YOUR MASCOTS!!!

Did you all hear me in the back? I mean, I can Groundhog Day this point into oblivion! You sure you got it?

Good!

Since we are all on the same page with the ridiculousness that is how the Chiefs have presented themselves throughout their history, let’s harken back to an earlier time; a simpler time. A time when people didn’t just stream every television show; they actually HAD to sit through commercials!

Cruel and unusual, am I right millennials?!

But even in this dark time, there was a glimmer of light that Kansas City fans can hold on to, like their proverbial Cheetah does with deep passes up the sideline.

Snickers gave us an iconic moment in commercial history when they did their commercial with the mispainted end zone.

Oh, you haven’t seen it?

Why wait? Watch it now (Snickers-heads will know what I did there).

Chefs is actually a cool nod to this iconic big game commercial from 1996. And, it is kinda cool!

I mean, Patrick Mahomes cooks defenses every week getting the ball in the hands of one of the deepest receiving corps in NFL history! Andy Reid hasn’t missed too many meals. And- when your defense is led by a Honey Badger, you know those boys are gonna eat!

Like, seriously- why hasn’t this happened yet? This feels like a no brainer! I even have their new tagline:

The Kansas City Chefs- there is no “I” in this team!

You’re welcome, Hunt family. Make sure you spell my name right on those checks!

Kev’s Idea: Kansas City Mahomies

Yes, this is absurd. But, the Chiefs don’t exactly have a rich history of drafting quarterbacks. For example, their most notable quarterbacks prior to Mahomes were drafted by the 49ers: Alex Smith and Joe Montana. Throw in Steve Deberg and Elvis Grbac, and you bring the total of San Francisco bred quarterbacks to play for the Chiefs to four. Okay, I know Deberg was drafted by the Cowboys, but was a practice squad player who was signed by the 49ers his rookie year. Mahomes is the greatest Chiefs drafted quarterback ever, but there’s more to it than that. 

Patrick Mahomes is the half a billion dollar man. They’ve essentially mortgaged their future to retain, quite possibly, the most talented quarterback ever. Going forward, his name will be synonymous with the Chiefs. It’ll just be Patrick and his Mahomies. 

This team will live and die by Mahomes for the next decade. Why not really drive this point home by naming the team after him?

Now, the Chiefs should’ve offered to do this during contract negotiations, maybe save a few bucks, but I digress. At this point, I don’t want to just rename the team. Arrowhead will need a new name, and it’ll be PM15 Field. We’d have to bring his family on board, so Jackson is the new head cheerleader. 

What would the logo be? The official Patrick Mahomes logo, of course, and Kermit the Frog will be the mascot. 

Shea’s Idea: Kansas City Monarchs

Mascots are a great opportunity to showcase a piece of a city’s history while educating the rest of the world about lesser-known facts. This is why the Kansas City Monarchs is the obvious choice for the Chiefs’ new name. 

If you’re familiar with baseball you might be thinking “This was already a team!” and you are correct. The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the Negro leagues and big names like Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson are just some of the hall-of-famers who are associated with the historic club. 

Sure, it might seem weird to name a football team after a former baseball team but the Royals aren’t really in the market for a new name, especially after inspiring a song by the New Zealand singer known as Lorde. 

Kansas City is also home to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum which is dedicated to keeping the legacy of African-American baseball athleticism alive, which is just another great reason why bringing the Monarchs mascot back would be the obvious choice for this Kansas City team. 

Find Parker (@painsworth512), Chaka (@chakacummings), Kev (@BellyUpKev), & Shea (@justsheavassar) on Twitter, and check out the Mascot Madness articles on Wake Forest,  RISD,  The University of Oklahoma,  old NBA Teams, the Texas Rangers, the University of Mississippi, the Cleveland Indians, and the Washington Racial Slurs for more mascot related content.