The KC Chiefs could learn from the Washington Nationals ring ceremony

The Kansas City Chiefs can learn from the Nationals virtual ring ceremony

The Kansas City Chiefs are the reigning Super Bowl champions—I smile each time I get to type it—and they’re surrounded by a ton of questions on how to handle the ensuing celebration of that milestone. From the banner night to championship caravans and more, it’s all up in the air right now given the pandemic.

One topic of discussion has to be the championship rings, at least amongst the players. How will the Kansas City Chiefs handle that given the current state of affairs? Well, they could take a page out of the Washington Nationals book, while pulling it off even better.

For baseball, this decision by the Nationals was a lot harder to make. Unlike football, MLB teams receive their championship rings on the field in front of thousands of screaming fans. Depending on when the last time you won a title, you might even have banner night one day, and the second home game feature just the rings.

In football, players receive their championship rings in the offseason, typically at a banquet-like gathering over dinner, and fans rush to Twitter or Instagram to cling to any content (and look at the bling) they can get.

The Chiefs have several options to make this a smashing success, and rally at least one fan base during these trying times. What if they held their ring ceremony virtually? The Nationals spent an hour unveiling their jewelry as well as interviewing some of their top players who helped earn them the hardware.

The Chiefs could do something similar. Are you telling me that during quarantine and social distancing with limited sporting options, for the time being, you would not watch a massive YouTube live stream that shows players unboxing their championship rings over Zoom? The problem would be getting the rings made and shipped to each player prior to the time you can come together.

The Chiefs have already put an emphasis on their content game, launching original series on their official YouTube page such as The Franchise, Watch Party Wednesdays, Mitch in the Kitchen and even more podcasts. They have the talent and the power to host such an event.

Even if you can get as close to the full roster as possible on a Zoom call and livestream it while giving the guys their very first look at their Super Bowl rings, I think fans would be all over that.

Ultimately, it should be left up to the players. Do they want a virtual ring ceremony? Would they rather wait for however long is needed to be able to collect these rings in person?

The bottom line is, fans will be willing to celebrate this championship run until the end of time. However, to get the party started, the Chiefs might need to be creative.