Fun facts about the Chiefs, from Eric Bieniemy’s devotion to their All-Pro picks to Andy Reid’s postseason record

Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt is credited with coming up with the term “Super Bowl” to decide the winner of the NFL-AFL championship game back in the ‘60s. But Hunt, who died in 2006, said it was his daughter Sharron who came up with it when she was a 7-year-old in 1966 playing with a Wham-O Super Ball.

“Super Ball” became “Super Bowl,” which Hunt didn’t love because it sounded too simplistic. But it definitely was much better than commissioner Pete Rozelle’s idea.

He wanted to call it “The Big One.”

Yuck.

The Eagles and Chiefs have played each other only nine times (K.C.’s up, 5-4, in the series). So while we all may know their head coach and their superstar quarterback, here are 25 other things to ponder ahead of The Big One, er, Super Bowl LVII.

There are numerous Chiefs-Eagles connections because of Kansas City coach Andy Reid. General manager Brett Veach’s first NFL job was being Reid’s assistant here from 2007 to 2009. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo also broke into the NFL under Reid, in 1999, the same year offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy played for the Eagles.

Bieniemy spent the entire 2020 season — from training camp to the Super Bowl, according to Sports Illustrated — in a hotel isolating his son Eric III from possible COVID-19 exposure. Eric has cerebral palsy and respiratory problems, and contracting the disease could have been fatal.

”He’s the heart and soul and the nucleus of our family,” Bieniemy told the Kansas City Star in 2018 when his son was 23. “He’s the one who makes us go. When he’s feeling good, we’re feeling good. And when he’s not, we’re down. It gives you a whole different perspective on things, on what’s important.”

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In Super Bowl I, which Kansas City lost to Green Bay, 35-10, each player on the losing team got $7,500 — which, adjusted for inflation, is around $67,000 today. (The winners received $15,000.) This year, the winners get $157,000 and the losers get $82,000.

Kansas City is 2-2 in Super Bowls. The Eagles are 1-2.

Wonder if Haason Reddick noticed that ESPN analyst Rex Ryan this week called Kansas City’s Chris Jones the best defensive player in the league this year? Jones had 15½ sacks, the second-highest total for a defensive tackle in the last 20 years. (Aaron Donald had 20½ sacks for the Los Angeles Rams in 2018.)

In October, Houston (Miss.) High School retired the jerseys of two former athletic greats: Jones and Terry Catledge, the 76ers’ first-round draft pick in 1985.

Ryan did, however, note that Reddick and the Eagles’ pass rush are “historic,” having produced the third-highest sack total (78) in NFL history, including the postseason. Kansas City allowed just 26 sacks on 651 passing attempts during the regular season, and three in 80 attempts this postseason.

Three players received 49 of 50 possible votes for first-team All-Pro this season: San Francisco’s Nick Bosa, whom the Eagles just beat, and Patrick Mahomes and Jones, whom they will play on Feb. 12.

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Travis Kelce and punter Tommy Townsend also were first-team All-Pro for the Chiefs. Left guard Joe Thuney and center Creed Humphrey were named to the second team. The Eagles’ All-Pros are Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce on the first team, Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Haason Reddick, and James Bradberry on the second team.

Humphrey was Hurts’ center in 2019 at the University of Oklahoma. They both were team captains as the Sooners went 12-2 and made it to the College Football Playoff.

Thuney, the left guard who was with the Patriots from 2016 to 2020, will be playing in his fourth Super Bowl. He has won two, and he was on the field blocking Fletcher Cox when Tom Brady’s Hail Mary finally fell to the ground at the end of Supe LII, when the Eagles beat New England. His last name is pronounced TOO-nee.

Townsend was second in the league in average yards per punt at 50.4, behind Tennessee’s Ryan Stonehouse (53.1). Five of Townsend’s eight punts in the postseason were downed inside the 20. None of the eight, however, hit a TV camera wire.

The Chiefs went 14-3 during the season despite a minus-3 turnover differential. The Eagles had the same record and were plus-8 in TOs. K.C. is plus-4 in the playoffs and its offense has not turned it over. Ditto for the Eagles (plus-4, no offensive turnovers).

Kansas City is 55-3 since 2018 when its opponents score 27 points or fewer.

Reid didn’t win a Super Bowl here, but his tenure as Eagles coach (1999-2012) sparked a revival in the Birds franchise. His 140 wins are easily the most in team history. Greasy Neale (66) is second.

Reid was a lineman who played sparingly at BYU but was coached by offensive innovators LaVell Edwards and Doug Scovil. Scovil went on to become the Eagles assistant coach who helped develop Randall Cunningham before the coach died of a heart attack in 1989. Ten years later, Reid was named the Eagles’ head coach.

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Reid’s 21 playoff wins (against 16 losses) are second only to Bill Belichick’s 31 (13 losses). Reid is 1-2 in the Super Bowl. Reid’s 37 postseason games also are second to Belichick. A defeat in the Super Bowl would tie Reid with Don Shula for the most playoff losses.

Mahomes won his only game against the Eagles, throwing for five touchdowns in Week 4 last year.

Mahomes’ father was a big-league pitcher for 11 years, mostly in the American League. Pat Mahomes pitched against the Phillies in five games, including a win in 1999 at Veterans Stadium when Patrick was 3 years old.

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker hit a 62-yard field goal against Buffalo in Week 6, the longest in the NFL this season. He has hit all five extra points and all five field goals this postseason, including two 50-yarders in the divisional-round win over Jacksonville and a 45-yarder to beat Cincinnati in the AFC championship game.

Norma Hunt, Lamar Hunt’s widow, is the only known woman to attend all 56 Super Bowls.

The Chiefs traded star wide receiver Tyreek Hill and still led the league in total offense (413.6 ypg), passing offense (308.8 ypg), and scoring (29.2 ppg).

With Hill gone, tight end Travis Kelce stepped up with 110 receptions and 12 touchdowns on 152 targets — all career highs for the 33-year-old future Hall of Famer. He has 21 catches and three touchdowns in two postseason games. The guy’s a monster.

Travis is 23 months younger than Eagles center Jason Kelce, who also should be in the Hall of Fame. This will be the first time brothers have played each other in a Super Bowl. Should be special.

Sources: Inquirer research, Pro-Football-Reference.com