Given the level of success and popularity these days of the Kansas City Chiefs, it stands to reason that a considerable portion of Chiefs Kingdom is accustomed to the brighter side of fandom. Even if a fan started to watch the Chiefs during the Andy Reid era (which runs over a decade now), a fan would still be used to playoff relevance and well-coached rosters.
For some fans, however, the bruises from hitting rock bottom in 2012 are still healing.
Perhaps that's why when watching the latest desperate attempts by fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars to affect their team's decision-making (really, just that of owner Shad Khan), some of us feel a tinge of sympathy and understanding. It's because we've been there before. We've known the pain. We've questioned our allegiance.
In case you missed it, here's the latest out of Duval County.
An airplane banner calling for Jaguars owner Shad Khan to fire GM Trent Baalke was seen flying near EverBank Stadium 😬
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 29, 2024
(via Prognotperf / reddit) pic.twitter.com/Hh9sTJ5HVL
Yeah, that's an airplane flying a banner over the Jaguars' home stadium paid for by fans (we assume) trying to get the attention of the execs in charge. It's the sports fan's equivalent of asking to see the manager.
Chiefs Kingdom was here just 12 years ago. Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend, drove to Arrowhead and committed suicide at midseason. The Chiefs won a total of 2 games all year. Romeo Crennel failed to impress after getting "interim" scrubbed from his title. The entire roster was largely a dumpster fire of marginal talent after the confusion of Scott Pioli's years in charge of the organization.
At that point, a group of fans took matters into their own hands and began to fly airplane banners reading "Save Our Chiefs". They were just a part of an overall fan base frustrated with pretty much everything happening at Arrowhead in those days and some were more vocal than others in trying to demand change.
We all know the rest of the story. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt would make the most important decision in franchise history when he hired Andy Reid the following offseason. From there, the Chiefs would never again experience a losing season—a streak that's continued for the next 12+ seasons—and eventually draft a quarterback who would usher in the golden era (and the NFL's next dynasty).
We're not sure if those expectations are realistic for Jags fans but we can at least affirm that good things can happen on the other side.