In Kansas City, two lifelong Eagles fans are big names in the world’s football

Delran's Peter Vermes manages Kansas City's MLS team. Hazleton's Chris Long is the local NWSL team's chief owner. They both know Patrick Mahomes. Now they've got split allegiances.

Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes in front of his team's bench, signaling for something other than a first down.Read moreAndy Clayton-King / AP

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Feb. 6, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

Peter Vermes has lived in Kansas City for so long now that if you didn’t know he’s originally from South Jersey, you might not guess it.

It’s not that he’s shy about saying so, just as he isn’t shy about saying much of anything. And he’s still got the accent, for sure.

But the longest-tenured manager in MLS has been in charge of Sporting Kansas City since 2009, and he’s worked for the team since 2006. He played the last three years of his career there, too, from 2000-02. Every major trophy Kansas City has won, whether as Sporting or the old Wizards, had Vermes on the field or the bench: two MLS Cups, three U.S. Open Cups, and a Supporters’ Shield.

So the 56-year-old Willingboro native, a product of Delran High School, Rutgers, and the 1990 U.S. men’s World Cup team, is pretty much a Kansas City guy too.

Except for how he’s not.

“I always was a Philly fan,” Vermes told The Inquirer. “I mean, everything Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, Sixers. I was all of it growing up.”

He wasn’t surprised that a familiar Inquirer reporter was on the phone, this time wanting to talk about American football instead of the world’s version.

Specifically, a certain Philadelphia vs. Kansas City game that’s coming up.

“My allegiance is for sure with Philly, but at the same time, I’ve been in Kansas City for ... this is my 23rd year,” Vermes said. “There’s no doubt I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan as well. So this is a tough game for me, from that perspective. That’s how I categorize it.”

Sporting’s owners are longtime Kansas City residents, so there’s no question about their allegiance. Vermes has a practical way to split his: He rooted for Andy Reid with the Eagles, and now roots for Reid with the Chiefs.

“I thought he did a great job there [with the Eagles], and he had a long tenure there,” Vermes said. “Always impressed with that, and his management style. And then he ends up coming out here.”

Coincidentally, the principal owner of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current also is a Philly sports diehard. Chris Long grew up in Hazleton, Pa., and still comes back east a few times a year. Last fall, he did so to watch his beloved Phillies in the World Series and to watch his Current in the NWSL’s championship game in D.C.

“I’ve loved the Eagles forever, so it’s wonderful to see this season and how dominant they were,” Long said. “My dad is 81 now and is a massive Eagles fan. My brother was a season ticket-holder forever. And they asked me that question …”

The answer wasn’t the one they wanted to hear, but they knew there are some legitimate reasons. The first is that Chris met his now-wife, Kansas City native Angie, when they were classmates at Princeton in the 1990s. They settled in her hometown, and, in 2009, founded an asset management company together.

In 2020, they bought the rights to the former Utah Royals, bringing the NWSL back to Kansas City after the Royals took the former FC Kansas City to Salt Lake City. Next year, the Current will become the first NWSL team to open their own stadium: 11,500 seats on seven acres just north of downtown, on the banks of the Missouri River.

Until then, they’re playing at Sporting’s home 15 miles west, a 12-year-old venue that always gets strong reviews.

The other reason Long is rooting for the Chiefs is another colleague in the owner’s box: Patrick Mahomes. The superstar Chiefs quarterback has bought stakes in Sporting and the Current in recent years and goes to games during the NFL’s offseason.

Mahomes’ wife Brittany, a former pro soccer player in Iceland, is also one of the Current’s original investors.

“I ride with Patrick,” Long said. “He’s our partner. He has absolutely transformed so many things in the Kansas City community. So I want to see it be really close. I want to see everyone be happy — at least to an extent — and then, you know, I’ve got to go with the Chiefs.”

Long said he’s met Vermes a few times, and called him “super friendly.” Vermes said he’s met Mahomes and Reid over the years, and quipped that Mahomes “has bigger, better things to worry about” right now than soccer.

But Vermes did share one tip that might help. Sporting Kansas City’s preseason camp has been in Arizona this year, and the team has stayed in both Super Bowl teams’ hotels: the Eagles’ one a few weeks back, and the Chiefs’ one now.

“They’re very good places,” Vermes said, least surprisingly of all.