JuJu Smith-Schuster secretly signaled his return to the Chiefs weeks ago

As it turns out, JuJu has been putting easter eggs out there for quite some time.

The phrase "to keep something close to our heart" is generally understood to be something intangible. We use it as a way of saying that we're remembering someone fondly, that we don't want to allow the importance of a person or place or moment to fade from view.

JuJu Smith-Schuster has been taking this literally.

On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Smith-Schuster to a one-year contract shortly before the NFL's roster cuts deadline, on the eve of a new season. It's a nice reunion for Smith-Schuster and the Chiefs after a year apart, a frustrating season in which the veteran struggled to stay healthy enough to play and generated only 260 receiving yards on 29 catches in 11 games.

A very astute viewer on Reddit (u/PandasCoWin) recently found the easter egg that Smith-Schuster dropped a few weeks ago—namely, that he has been holding the Chiefs close to his own heart for quite some time. In fact, he's been wearing a Chiefs jersey under his own while employed by the Patriots.

Check out the video below from a recent press conference for the Patriots in early August.

Yes, that's a Kansas City Chiefs logo showing through the top layer just below the "Gillette" sponsorship. It's as if Smith-Schuster was willing something to happen, a moment that would have allowed him a grand reveal—a potential tearing of a jersey a la Hulk Hogan in his prime. Instead, he had to settle for the full cycle of being released and then re-signed.

No matter how productive Smith-Schuster is going to be on the field for the Chiefs, it's easy to root for a guy who clearly loved his short stint with the Chiefs the first time around—a single season in 2022. Keep the Chiefs close to your heart and good thing will happen.