Time To Start Rooting For The Chiefs To Lose

The time has come to start rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs to lose.

It isn’t a popular choice. It isn’t something that feels good.

But it’s probably what’s best for the team.*

*I’ll just go ahead and interject here that I know that we’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan site and that this post isn’t like to make us many friends in Chiefs land. While we in no way intend to run you off with negativity, we’ve never pulled punches here at AA and we’re not going to start now. Also, if you hate this post, please remember that Arrowhead Addict features a number of talented, opinionated writers, some of whom will likely write response pieces to this one calling me an idiot. So stick around!

There are some out there that think fans that root for their team to lose means aren’t really fans at all. They’ll say that being a fan means you should supporting the team through thick and thin regardless of what draft pick is on the line.

Balderdash! Malarkey!

Winning isn’t always the best thing for a team. Often, losing now means winning a lot more later. What is better? One 2-14 season followed by 10-15 years of division championships, playoff success and maybe even a Super Bowl or 10-15 years of 7-9 records, with the occasional 10-6 season and early playoff exit?

There are sure to be some comments on this post that sound a little something like this;

“Never, ever root for the Chiefs to lose for draft picks. Go be a Raider fan if you want to root against the Chiefs. This post is disgusting. It’s sickening.”

Eric Winston? Is that you?

Fans don’t owe the Kansas City Chiefs anything. We watch for our own enjoyment, in hopes we’ll see our team win a championship.

Yet some of us are glutton for punishment. We feel a fierce loyalty to their favorite team, often because that team represents the region or city in which we live. Thus to root for the Chiefs to lose is the same as rooting for yourself to lose.

I’ve got a news flash for you; the Chiefs are losing anyway. Other than three slightly more enjoyable Sunday afternoons, there isn’t much difference between 2-14 and 5-11.

Except when it comes to draft picks.

Rooting for the Chiefs isn’t rooting against yourself. It is rooting for yourself! It is rooting for change and hope.

The Chiefs are in a unique and enviable position right now. They’re the best worst team in the NFL. They have a roster chalk full of young talent and veterans in their prime. All that is missing is a competent head coach and a franchise QB. And probably a new GM.

Want Pioli gone?

Then you want the Chiefs to lose the rest of their games. The dude isn’t going to get canned if KC somehow ends up winning seven games this year.

Want Crennel out?

Then you want the disaster that is the 2012 Chiefs season to continue.

Want Geno Smith?

Lost please.

Matt Barkley?

Lose.

2012 is Kansas City’s chance to right the wrongs of the past. It is a chance for the franchise to lay to rest the ghost of Todd Blackledge and the missed opportunities of the Shottenheimer era.

All they need to do is keep losing.

I’m not suggesting the Chiefs lose games intentionally. That would be absurd. KC is going to go out there every week and try their hardest to get a victory.

All I want is for them to keep going out there and doing what they’ve been doing all season long. I want them to try hard and fail miserably.

This team isn’t going to the playoffs. The only thing they can win this season is the right to choose one of the draft’s elite QBs.

Failure to fail could catastrophic for the Chiefs. The Oakland Raiders are pretty bad as well. Are two victories over the hated Raiders worth watching them draft QB Geno Smith one pick ahead of the Chiefs?

Is it worth losing to Smith and the Raiders for the next decade?

We watch football because we enjoy it and it entertains us.

As a Chiefs fan, how much of the 2012 NFL season have you enjoyed? Two quarters? Four, tops?

What about 2010? How did that season go for you? Would you say it was one of the most enjoyable football falls you’ve had in recent memory?

Wouldn’t it be cool if that happened just about every single season for ten or twelve years?

Maybe you would enjoy the games even less if you weren’t rooting for the Chiefs to win. I can understand that. It makes sense. If that is the case, then by all means, keeping pulling for the home team. Enjoy your sports however you like.

But if you choose to root for more misery in the City of Fountains this season, don’t feel bad. It doesn’t mean you aren’t a “true fan.” In your heart, you still want the Chiefs to win.

You just realize that they need to lose a little more first.