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Oh, what a difference 1 year makes. It can take you from carefree single to committed lover, committed lover to panicking parent, struggling entrepreneur to Shark Tank presenter or from promising, young upstart to absolute superstar.
We witnessed the latter transformation over the 364 days between the 2019 and 2020 AFC Championships.
At the first juncture, Patrick Mahomes brought the Chiefs Kingdom back from 25 years of oblivion to challenge the mighty New England Patriots.
Only in his 2nd season, the grandeur of the occasion proved to be a little too much for him to handle, despite getting the better of decorated general Tom Brady for most of the game.
But Mahomes wasn't done. He realized that his team had almost won, and therefore had a really good chance of going one better upon reaching its next championship game.
Long after that match was lost, I believe that Mahomes could still hear the boisterous cheers and chants of his fellow Arrowheads. He was driven and inspired to learn from his mistakes and to keep working hard at his game.
It's almost as if he was filled with the "spirits" of his Chiefs Nation ancestors, heroic players of the past who had christened Kansas City with everlasting Arrowhead Pride.
The Chiefs' 49-year tradition of grit, glory, pride and excellence could not be denied. Mahomes had to redeem himself the following season, and that he did.
Invigorating the Chiefs' (now typical) come-from-behind style of play, Patrick Mahomes made a thrilling, unexpected run into the end-zone from 27 yards out, just before half-time.
Tribesmen like his perennial touchdown partner Travis Kelce, ever-impactful "cheetah" Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson and Damien Williams chipped in to limit the fearsome Goliath that is 6' 3", 247-lb running-back Derrick Henry to a net yardage of under 61, proving that if he is indeed Superman, then they must be kryptonite!
Thus did the entire Titans arsenal begin to dwindle and dwindle, gradually fading to a mere shell of its fabled indomitability. All in Arrowhead Stadium took notice, and immediately sensed that the "Kingdom" was poised for a glorious restoration.
The rest is history. Mahomes and the Chiefs brought the AFC Trophy back home to the Hunt family and to Kansas City's long-suffering Arrowhead fans.
Not only that, but in becoming AFC champs, this amazing organization and its top-rated quarterback stomped their way back to the Super Bowl after a drought of 50 long years!
And to put icing on the cake, Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt - son of the Chiefs' and AFC's founder (after whom the coveted trophy is named) - was able to physically hold on to a piece of his legendary father's legacy by accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy... most fittingly in front of his family and their beloved fans at the team's stadium.
I tell ya, neither Toni Morrison nor Tom Clancy could have written a better storybook ending!
Congrats to the Chiefs Nation (you really do deserve it)
Donna
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