With an internationally known QB and Canadian doctor, are Chiefs North America’s team?
Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said he was surprised by the interview requests he received on Super Bowl 54 Opening Night on Monday.
Not by the volume of queries but the origin.
“I almost had more Mexican-based reporters try to interview me as domestic,” Hunt said. “That’s something I didn’t anticipate.”
Advance two days to another media session. A crowd gathered where Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif sat. Early questions were in English. But most of the interview was conducted in French by reporters from Montreal, his hometown.
“I’m telling you right now I feel in Montreal there is a lot of support and a lot of people are rooting for us,” Duvernay-Tardif said.
Some of the NFL’s 32 franchises are more popular than others. The Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, who meet in Sunday’s Super Bowl, each have large and loyal fan bases.
But a few factors may favor Kansas City’s appeal across borders in ways not available to other teams.
Could the Chiefs become North America’s team?
“I like the sound of that for sure,” Duvernay-Tardif said.
The enthusiasm that greeted the Chiefs in Mexico City for their Week 11 game against the Los Angeles Chargers opened eyes in the Chiefs travel party. In quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs have a transcendent talent with jersey sales appeal — he was the NFL’s “retail king” for 2019, according to the NFL Players Association. That appeal travels.
“Right now, Pat Mahomes may be one of the three top players known in Mexico and Mexico City,” said Carlos Nava, a columnist and reporter for ESPN Deportes.
Daniela Limón, a reporter for Fox Sports Mexico, saw Mahomes’ and the Chiefs’ popularity soaring across demographics with the team’s November appearance.
“They’re going to Mexico City helped a lot,” Limón said. “They’re an amazing team with an amazing talent … Mexico City and Mexico fan base for the NFL has been growing and growing a lot, especially for women and younger kids.
“When younger kids start looking at the NFL, they want to see one of their heroes, and Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce are that for them.”
According to Forbes, American football is Mexico’s second most popular sport with more than 20 million fans, and U.S. market size doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to star power.
“Patrick Mahomes anywhere in the NFL is good for me,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
In Montreal and Quebec and perhaps all of Canada, the Chiefs’ popularity also rides with the 28-year-old, 321-pound guard who has graduated from medical school.
Duvernay-Tardif’s appearance in the Super Bowl has helped swell the Super Bowl media press corps.
“We’re spending the whole week here talking about the guy,” said Stéphane Cadorette, a sportswriter for Le Journal de Quebec. “As we speak, the Montreal Canadiens are not doing so good. So, he’s like this huge sports figure right now.”
In 2018, Duvernay-Tardif became the fourth NFL player to graduate with a medical degree when he completed coursework from McGill University in Montreal. He’s leaning toward practicing emergency medicine after his football career ends.
If he could only get his name on an NFL-licensed jersey. As of Wednesday, his wasn’t available in the Chiefs collection via NFLshop.com.
“My name is too long,” Duvernay-Tardif said.
But his name and the Chiefs are becoming more well known in Duvernay-Tardif’s part of Canada.
“I think the Chiefs are now a lot of people’s favorite team, which probably wasn’t the case before hand because it’s not a big market like Dallas or the (New England) Patriots,” said Miguel Bujold, a sportswriter for La Presse in Montreal. “I think most of Quebec and Montreal will be pulling for the Chiefs on Sunday.”
Can Duvernay-Tardif recommend a Chiefs bar in Montreal to watch the Super Bowl?
“I feel like on Sunday a lot of bars will be Chiefs bars,” Duvernay-Tardif said.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 3:39 PM with the headline "With an internationally known QB and Canadian doctor, are Chiefs North America’s team?."