(Author’s Note: “Meet the Superfans” is a new network-wide feature where we interview the league’s most recognizable fans. Enjoy!)
I want to welcome Kansas City Chiefs Superfan Ty “X-Factor” Rowton. Not only is the X-Factor going in the Guinness Book of World Records and already a member of the NFL Hall of Fans, but he’s also the first subject of our network-wide “Meet the Superfans” series.
Q: So, Ty, what gave birth to the persona the X-Factor? Were you involved in some kind of biochemical accident like The Joker or Spider-Man?
A: X-Factor was kind of a biological experiment, Spider-Man infused with Chiefs paint. I originally started painting my body both half red and yellow in 1992. It all began because my dad and I had never missed a game together from the time I was three months old until in 1992 — when I got my season tickets. I painted my body half red and half yellow trying to get on TV, so my dad who was six hours away could see me and to try to recapture the feeling of us watching it together. In 1997 Andre Rison came to town and I started dressing up as a Red and Yellow Spider-Man. After Rison was cut then I searched for a new identity, because over the years I had found that I added to the Arrowhead experience especially for the younger generations.
X-Factor was actually a hilarious story; I had been up for a couple days working and went home to take a shower. I had a vision which told me that I was no longer painted boy or Spider-Man, I was now X-Factor and I was to lead all Chiefs Fans to the ultimate Promised Land — the Super Bowl. My whole mission statement, costume, everything came to me at once. So I jumped out of the shower ran over to my best friends house, where about 50 of my friends were watching NASCAR. I told them the vision I’d just had and everyone laughed at me and asked what drugs I’d been doing. To this day everyone that was there that day can’t believe that everything I said except the Super Bowl part has come true. Don’t worry, Chiefs Fans, that will happen in the near future, and then my vision will be complete.
Q: That’s great. Sometimes I have Chiefs visions of grandeur as well. You gotta believe, right? Speaking of vision, was yours blurry towards the end of your record-breaking NFL-watching marathon? You watched an insane 70 hours of continuous football. Talk a little about that experience…
A: I don’t know if blurry is the word for the way I felt at the end of setting the world record, completely in another universe would be more like it. The whole experience was just amazing, setting a world record with seven other new friends that felt like different teams. The way we did it also was so awesome by working as a team, showing the world sportsmanship, friendship, teamwork, etc. I also took great pride in being able to push myself past barriers that I didn’t think I could. Keeping my eyes on a TV screen for 70 straight hours is the toughest thing I’ve ever done, I actually was up for 90 straight hrs when it was all said and done. But I think the greatest part of the whole experience was being able to share my experience with so many Chiefs fans and players from all over the United States. In the three days I received well over 2,000 calls from supporters and that was the biggest factor in me being able to set the record. The clincher was being able to go to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl as my reward.
Q: You’ve been to the Pro Bowl, you’ve met all of the Chiefs… in your opinion, which Chiefs player, past or present, was the coolest to meet?
A: Wow, I have met so many great people that have influenced me as a person, especially when it comes to helping kids. My all-time favorite player is D.T., so much I have his name and number tattooed over my heart. One month before he got into his wreck he told me that it was fans like me who made him want to be a Chief for life.
Priest also is a great friend and I spent lots of time helping him with Team Priest. He is the one that challenged me to do something great while on my platform when it comes to helping kids. He is the biggest reason I run KC Superfans now, he showed me the way.
I will also say that Lamar Hunt had an amazing impact in my life; he told me once that Chiefs fans are the greatest fans in the world and I was exactly what he envisioned when he thought of Chiefs fans. Dick Vermeil and Herm Edwards are also great guys and always take care of the kids I bring to meet them. Dick cried the day he retired to me and told me that he was truly going to miss me.
Current players that hold a special place: Jared Allen who I love as a person; he is literally the funniest man I’ve ever met. Eddie Kennison is a shining example of an amazing individual and I have had the pleasure of working hand-and-hand with him on many projects. Boomer Grigsby is so awesome also and his huge family that goes everywhere he does is also like family to me. Will Shields, even though he just retired, has inspired me so much as a person. He always kids me and says that I’m supposed to sign autographs so I can take some of the pressure off of him. Casey Weigmann is so amazing also and his soon to be wife Danni Boatwright helps us so much. I could go on and on, truly I have never met a Chiefs player I didn’t like. They always go out of the way to help whatever charity activity we are doing.
Q: Amazing stuff. You’ve accomplished a great deal as The X-Factor, and seem to have won over the collective heart of both the Chiefs franchise and its fans. You can’t talk about the Chiefs franchise without talking about CEO/general manager/team president (could he have any more titles?) Carl Peterson, though. Have you met King Carl? Given that he’s not always been the most popular guy with fans, what’s your opinion of him?
A: I have met Carl hundreds of times; I’m a regular guest on his radio
show. Carl is always first to pay thanks to Chiefs fans and whenever he spots me he says “everyone there is X-Factor, what I define as an ultimate fan and one that the Chiefs organization is extremely proud of.”
Here’s my opinion of Carl Peterson: He is a very caring person and tries to become friends with his players which is very tough to do being their boss. The biggest gripe towards Carl is that he hasn’t fulfilled his words of bringing home a championship yet. I’m one that remembers the days of pre-Carl when we never had a chance to go to the playoffs and Arrowhead was like a graveyard. When Carl came he promoted tailgating and brought in a great coach in Marty. That mix is what made Arrowhead what it is today. The job of a GM is to put the right coaches and players together to compete. That is something that Carl has done year in year out. He can’t dictate turnovers, injuries, bad calls, coaching or how those players will play. He has assembled plenty of teams that could have won a championship but the chips haven’t fallen that way. What he does bring is stability not usually seen in the NFL. Every GM is going to make mistakes, especially someone with his long of tenure. I will say this — if he ever leaves he would be very sought out by many NFL teams to bring what he has done for the Chiefs.
Q: Speaking of leaving, the K.C. Superfans recently lost an all-time great in Wierdwolf. Talk a little bit about Wierdwolf and the future of the Superfans?
Losing Weirdwolf is an enormous loss for us, just like the Chiefs losing Derrick Thomas, Len Dawson, Will Shields, etc. You replace the position but you will never replace the person. WeirdWolf is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his work as a fan, but he is also in mine and thousands of kids’ Hall of Fame for the work he did for the community. I told WeirdWolf to go raise his kids and after they go away to school he can be like George Foreman and make his return.
As for KC Superfans it is a scary and exciting time. We are trying to launch Superfans to all of the Midwest, trying to find people passionate about other sports teams other than the Chiefs that are also passionate about moving mountains in the community. We continue to grow leaps and bounds everyday and I foresee that to be the future also. KC Superfans is definitely going outside of the box with everything, there is nothing like it in the world. We would like to expand some of our programs such as our reading program to many more schools because in our test schools it is blowing away the “Book It” records that the program replaced. We are also trying to get many, many more people involved and discredit the stereotypes that you have to dress up or be a Chiefs fan to be a Superfan. As long as we stay true to our values of just helping as many kids as humanly possible, then KC Superfans will continue to thrive and grow. I personally challenge every person that reads this interview to go to www.kcsuperfans.com and get involved with us or to do your own thing to make positive changes happen in their community.
Thanks, X. It’s been a blast, and I’m sure we’ll sit down for another interview again in the future. I think I can speak for all of us Arrowhead Addicts when I say thank you for what you bring to the Kansas City Chiefs and Arrowhead Stadium, and we look forward to seeing you do your thing during the ’07 season!