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Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt · NFL explained.

0:07
Speaker 1: The Season with Peter Schreeger as a production of the
0:09
Speaker 1: NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome everybody to a Super
0:24
Speaker 1: Bowl Week edition of the Season with Peter Schreger. I
0:28
Speaker 1: am so thrilled to have two different podcasts here from Arizona.
0:35
Speaker 1: Both of them are with very influential people in the NFL,
0:39
Speaker 1: and both of them make for very unique guests in
0:43
Speaker 1: a crowded space of NFL podcasts. You see, I got
0:47
Speaker 1: here to Arizona and I said, did we get an
0:50
Speaker 1: next player? Do we get maybe a current player, Do
0:53
Speaker 1: we get a former, you know, league executive, somebody, anyone,
0:57
Speaker 1: maybe one of the guys calling the games? And that
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Speaker 1: all would be great. I thought, for this week's podcast,
1:03
Speaker 1: let's get two guests, the two lead dogs of both
1:09
Speaker 1: of these franchises. Yes, in this episode, it is going
1:12
Speaker 1: to be chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs,
1:15
Speaker 1: mister Clark Hunt. And in part two, which is going
1:19
Speaker 1: to be posting shortly thereafter, it is the chairman and
1:22
Speaker 1: CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles, mister Jeffrey Lorie's quick background
1:26
Speaker 1: on Clark Hunt. He became CEO of the Chiefs in
1:28
Speaker 1: twenty ten his father, Lamar Hunt. Of course, when the
1:31
Speaker 1: legends of football history passed away and Clark took over.
1:36
Speaker 1: He was officially CEO in twenty ten, and he has
1:38
Speaker 1: been the driving force behind the resurgence of the Chiefs franchise.
1:43
Speaker 1: The Chiefs have won eight AFC West titles and have
1:46
Speaker 1: been to the playoffs ten different times since twenty ten alone.
1:50
Speaker 1: They are AFC champions this year. They were AFC champions
1:54
Speaker 1: two years ago, they were AFC Champions three years ago.
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Speaker 1: That means Clark has hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy three
2:01
Speaker 1: of the past four seasons. He's also done incredible things
2:04
Speaker 1: with the org chart. When he took over, it was
2:07
Speaker 1: the GM reports to the owner and so on and
2:09
Speaker 1: so forth. No, no, he changed things. He said, let's
2:11
Speaker 1: restructure the organization and how this thing is built. The
2:14
Speaker 1: coach directly reports to the owner. The GM directly reports
2:19
Speaker 1: to the owner, and that was in twenty thirteen. It
2:22
Speaker 1: also sinks up quite nicely with the hiring of maybe
2:26
Speaker 1: the most influential person in this Chief's organization on the field,
2:30
Speaker 1: mister Andy Reid. I'm excited to ask Clark about the
2:33
Speaker 1: hiring of Andy Reid. How that all went down. And
2:36
Speaker 1: I'm also going to ask about the hiring of Brett Veach,
2:39
Speaker 1: which was an internal hire in twenty seventeen as a
2:42
Speaker 1: general manager. But Clark, of course, when he brought in
2:45
Speaker 1: Andy Reid, Andy Reid, he himself took Brett Veach from
2:48
Speaker 1: Philadelphia with him to Kansas City. Look, Clark Hunt is
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Speaker 1: a leading voice among a lot of the NFL owners
2:55
Speaker 1: because of the different committees he's on. He's on the
2:58
Speaker 1: NFL Finance Committees, on the Personal Conduct committees, on the
3:00
Speaker 1: International committees, on the Management Council Executive Committee, and he
3:04
Speaker 1: played a key role in a lot of those CBA
3:07
Speaker 1: dealings both in twenty eleven and in twenty twenty. This
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Speaker 1: dude loves his Chiefs. He loves his Chiefs. It is
3:14
Speaker 1: a family business. And he is there at every game
3:18
Speaker 1: and he is there on the crowns and arrowhead when
3:20
Speaker 1: you see them take the field every Sunday in those
3:24
Speaker 1: home games. I am excited to bring on Clark Hunt
3:28
Speaker 1: as gentleman, the CEO and chairman of the Kansas City Chiefs.
3:31
Speaker 1: Mister Clark Hunt, and with no further ado, I'm excited
3:34
Speaker 1: about this guest. He's the chairman and CEO of the
3:37
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs, and his team is in the Super
3:40
Speaker 1: Bowl yet again, and they are now AFC champions the
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Speaker 1: third time in four years. Clark Hunt, Welcome to the
3:48
Speaker 1: season with Peter Schreker. Yeah, thank you very much. It's
3:51
Speaker 1: a pleasure to be on with you today. Yeah. Look,
3:54
Speaker 1: we're thrilled to have you. You know, the Andy Reid
3:57
Speaker 1: storyline is playing such a huge role. But I feel
4:01
Speaker 1: like there's this vague memory of Okay, well, Reid is
4:04
Speaker 1: done with the Eagles, but three days later joins the
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Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs. I always wanted to know where were
4:10
Speaker 1: you in that process and the Chiefs organization as to
4:14
Speaker 1: getting Andy right on board and away we go. Since
4:17
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, one of the most successful franchises in football. Yeah,
4:21
Speaker 1: we're looking back. It's hard to believe that it's been
4:23
Speaker 1: almost ten years ago, and how blessed we are to
4:27
Speaker 1: have Andy. I remember, you know, calling him on Monday
4:32
Speaker 1: was referred to black Monday around the league. We had
4:36
Speaker 1: just parted ways with our former coach, and I've heard
4:40
Speaker 1: that Andy had been let go, and so I called
4:43
Speaker 1: his cell phone, thinking, well, you know, I'm just gonna
4:45
Speaker 1: be leaving a message and hopefully called me back later,
4:48
Speaker 1: but he picked up and you know, which, you know,
4:52
Speaker 1: shocked me. I'm not sure I was ready to talk
4:54
Speaker 1: to him. So we had a great conversation. We set
4:58
Speaker 1: up an interview a couple of days later, which ended
5:01
Speaker 1: up being in Philadelphia at FBO at the airport. You're
5:06
Speaker 1: at the airport and if I remember, it was like
5:09
Speaker 1: here the Chiefs are, and then there's always rumors that
5:11
Speaker 1: like the Cardinals want to interview, and you read, but
5:13
Speaker 1: it never even got to that point. The story goes,
5:16
Speaker 1: you guys meet, It's a nine hour interview, if I'm
5:20
Speaker 1: not mistaken, maybe even longer. And by the end of
5:23
Speaker 1: the day, Andy Reid was like, let's go. I'm the
5:25
Speaker 1: new Chiefs head coach. Yeah. It was an amazing day.
5:29
Speaker 1: We were supposed to have about a three or four
5:31
Speaker 1: hour interview, and you know, we just hit it off.
5:36
Speaker 1: And I had some of the chief staff there with
5:39
Speaker 1: me so he'd have an opportunity to visit with them,
5:43
Speaker 1: and it was clear we had had a lot to
5:45
Speaker 1: talk about it, and it just just kept going and going,
5:49
Speaker 1: and eventually he told me, you see that plane out there.
5:52
Speaker 1: I was supposed to get on that to go to Arizona.
5:55
Speaker 1: Is that right? It was there in the part it
5:57
Speaker 1: was there, like on the runway, it was it was
5:59
Speaker 1: just outside, you know, with the step down, you know,
6:02
Speaker 1: ready for him to get on it. And you know,
6:05
Speaker 1: he made the decision not to make that trip because
6:08
Speaker 1: I think he felt like there was a really good
6:10
Speaker 1: chemistry with me and the others who were there representing
6:14
Speaker 1: the organization. So the interview, you're right, we went on
6:18
Speaker 1: nine hours, which is a hard way. I'm not sure
6:20
Speaker 1: was talked about for nine hours, but but we did,
6:23
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, we agreed to get together a
6:26
Speaker 1: couple days later in Kansas City. He wanted to come
6:30
Speaker 1: see our facilities and he wanted his wife came in
6:33
Speaker 1: to get a chance to see Kansas City. And so
6:36
Speaker 1: they came in on Friday, my wife that Tammy a tour.
6:40
Speaker 1: I took Andy to the facility. He saw everything, loved
6:45
Speaker 1: what he saw, and by the end of the day
6:46
Speaker 1: we had to sign contract. That's unbelievable. I love that.
6:50
Speaker 1: That's a monumental moment in Chief's history. I think another
6:54
Speaker 1: monumental moment might be the day that number fifteen was drafted.
6:58
Speaker 1: Can you take us through your day that draft morning
7:01
Speaker 1: when you wake up and you might have word that
7:03
Speaker 1: we might be traded up. And when the pick was
7:05
Speaker 1: in and Patrick Holmes becomes the next quarterback of the
7:07
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs. Well, a lot of work went into
7:12
Speaker 1: that decision, and our general manager Brett Leach was the
7:16
Speaker 1: first one to get on Patrick and he started showing
7:20
Speaker 1: Andy clips of Patrick's Texas Tech games a couple of
7:25
Speaker 1: years before. You know, Patrick was ready to leave and
7:28
Speaker 1: declare for the draft. And like Brett does on a
7:32
Speaker 1: lot of things, you know, he's pretty persistent, and he did.
7:35
Speaker 1: I get him. You know, he's awesome. We love to
7:38
Speaker 1: have him. And then went through the process. Patrick came
7:42
Speaker 1: in for one of the visits in the lead up
7:46
Speaker 1: to the draft. You know, Andy took him through the
7:49
Speaker 1: quiz that he likes to give quarterbacks and Patrick a
7:53
Speaker 1: face that and so then they decided to bring me
7:58
Speaker 1: in to watch a little tape of Patrick. And I
8:00
Speaker 1: don't watch watch tape of players that were going to draft,
8:04
Speaker 1: but they wanted to show me how special this player
8:07
Speaker 1: was and why they wanted to move from late in
8:10
Speaker 1: the first round up to the tenth pick to get them.
8:13
Speaker 1: So they showed me a few clips, you know, including
8:16
Speaker 1: you know, one of Patrick's roll to your left, flip
8:19
Speaker 1: your body around, throw the ball six yards, you know,
8:22
Speaker 1: with sidearm, throw into the end zone. I was like,
8:25
Speaker 1: that's that's pretty special. That's pretty good. Yeah, And so
8:30
Speaker 1: then we had the engineer of the trade and our
8:33
Speaker 1: general manager at the time, John Dorsey, did a great
8:35
Speaker 1: job of working with the Buffalo Bills to work out
8:39
Speaker 1: a trade that we would execute that Patrick was still
8:42
Speaker 1: on the board. Of course, we didn't let anybody know
8:46
Speaker 1: who we were going after because we felt there were
8:48
Speaker 1: some teams at eleven, twelve, and thirteen that wanted Patrick's
8:53
Speaker 1: and if they knew we were going to ten to
8:54
Speaker 1: get Patrid, they might have jumped over us going to
8:58
Speaker 1: the seven eighth, ninth pick so they could take them.
9:02
Speaker 1: And we were all pretty nervous. You know. It was
9:05
Speaker 1: probably our as into the draft before it was our
9:08
Speaker 1: turn to pick, and you know, we had a lot
9:11
Speaker 1: of nerves. And then he was there. You know, the
9:13
Speaker 1: excitement was unbelievable. That's an incredible story. And since then,
9:17
Speaker 1: you know, the teams come out of the woodwork thing. Yeah,
9:19
Speaker 1: we actually had them really high on our draft for it.
9:21
Speaker 1: It's like the Chiefs did it. They made the move,
9:24
Speaker 1: they were decisive, they had a quarterback, we take them
9:26
Speaker 1: to the playoffs, and that kind of gut decision in
9:29
Speaker 1: the conviction to do it. I think that's symbolic with
9:31
Speaker 1: a lot of decisions the Chiefs have made as an organization. Look,
9:35
Speaker 1: you officially became the title of CEO in twenty ten.
9:38
Speaker 1: Of course you've always been with the organization in some
9:41
Speaker 1: capacity and in that time eight AFC West titles and
9:45
Speaker 1: ten playoff appearances. It's consistency in a league that is
9:49
Speaker 1: stacked and wants parody. What do you think is the
9:53
Speaker 1: greatest thing that you could attribute to that consistency and
9:56
Speaker 1: this culture of winning in Kansas City? Well, as I
9:59
Speaker 1: was taking over, one of my goals was to turn
10:02
Speaker 1: us into a consistent winner. And of course there were
10:04
Speaker 1: other organizations and NFL who had done that. Pittsburgh Steelers
10:10
Speaker 1: across several decades had been a consistent winner, and of
10:14
Speaker 1: course the Patriots more recently are the best example of it.
10:18
Speaker 1: And it's a very hard thing to attend because there's
10:21
Speaker 1: so much turnover in the NFL on a yearly basis.
10:25
Speaker 1: Of course, it all starts with your head coach, right,
10:28
Speaker 1: you got to find the right head coach and somebody
10:31
Speaker 1: that you can work with for the long term. And
10:34
Speaker 1: we've been blessed with that with Andy now now for
10:37
Speaker 1: ten years. And then Brett's been our general manager for
10:40
Speaker 1: about five years and he has done a phenomenal job.
10:44
Speaker 1: He and Andy worked really well together. They're generally on
10:48
Speaker 1: the same page, which you have to have with your
10:50
Speaker 1: head coach and general manager. And then of course, you know,
10:54
Speaker 1: having franchise quarterback I think is really the last piece
10:57
Speaker 1: in the puzzle. And you're right. We had a tremendous
11:01
Speaker 1: quarterback and Alex Smith who led us to a lot
11:05
Speaker 1: of success, a lot of playoffers, but Patword has now
11:09
Speaker 1: just taken it to another level and we really have
11:12
Speaker 1: the foundation. I think you know that they can not
11:15
Speaker 1: only hopefully win a Super Bowl on Sunday, but continue
11:18
Speaker 1: being successful going forward. Yeah, and we'll see on Sunday
11:22
Speaker 1: how it goes either way. The consistency and the success
11:25
Speaker 1: to say three at the last four years as AFC
11:28
Speaker 1: champions in this day and age where there's unprecedented you know,
11:32
Speaker 1: strength to schedule the draft the way it's built. The
11:35
Speaker 1: NFL is supposed to be a league that turns over
11:38
Speaker 1: and the Chiefs, you guys are there every single year.
11:40
Speaker 1: I find you interesting in the NFL's grand scheme because
11:44
Speaker 1: you're not just a part of the Chiefs. You're also
11:46
Speaker 1: a chairman of the NFL Finance Committee, you serve on
11:49
Speaker 1: the Personal Conduct Committee, you're in the International Committee, the
11:52
Speaker 1: Management Council, Executive Committee. And having covered the labor deals
11:56
Speaker 1: over the last twenty years, I know in twenty eleven
11:59
Speaker 1: and twenty twenty what an influential person you were in
12:02
Speaker 1: those conversations that To have those titles and to really
12:06
Speaker 1: dive into the NFL on the shield as a whole,
12:09
Speaker 1: that's that's a commitment, but it's also a love. I
12:12
Speaker 1: know your family history with the league and of course
12:15
Speaker 1: with the sport, but you personally to play all those
12:17
Speaker 1: different roles, where all those different hats, that's next level.
12:20
Speaker 1: What what do you think about doing all that stuff
12:22
Speaker 1: and what drives you to play a bigger role for
12:24
Speaker 1: the league than not just the Chiefs, chairman and CEO. Well,
12:27
Speaker 1: first of all, I enjoy it. I love the league
12:30
Speaker 1: responsibilities that I have. It is a lot of work,
12:34
Speaker 1: but by working on many league initiatives that I'm involved with.
12:38
Speaker 1: I'm indirectly making the Kansas City Chiefs better because it's
12:42
Speaker 1: making the NFL better. I also think it's an advantage
12:46
Speaker 1: for the Chiefs that I'm plugged into what's going on
12:50
Speaker 1: at the league office and the many initiatives that they have.
12:53
Speaker 1: I'm aware of those. You know. Being involved in the
12:56
Speaker 1: labor discussions has given me a good understanding of the
12:59
Speaker 1: salary camp and how that works. So when I'm talking
13:02
Speaker 1: to Brett Beach and our sary camp guys, I've got
13:05
Speaker 1: some context there. So I think it's beneficial in many regards.
13:09
Speaker 1: But first and foremost, I just really enjoy it. Yeah. Now,
13:13
Speaker 1: and the international stuff is huge. We got as a
13:17
Speaker 1: show Good Morning Football, got to go to London and
13:18
Speaker 1: Germany this year and to see the outpouring, and of
13:21
Speaker 1: course we got the great announcement with the Chiefs in
13:23
Speaker 1: Germany just a couple of weeks ago. I know that's
13:26
Speaker 1: a piece that's close to your heart in a passion
13:28
Speaker 1: of years. The international aspect, When did that come about?
13:32
Speaker 1: And why are you so heavily invested in international expansion
13:35
Speaker 1: and growth of the NFL. Well, it really goes back
13:38
Speaker 1: to my dad and his involvement with the league's international
13:42
Speaker 1: affirst back in the eighties and nineties, and of course
13:46
Speaker 1: that manifested himself in the league playing preseason games, which
13:50
Speaker 1: the Chiefs played preseason games in Germany, in Japan, in Mexico,
13:56
Speaker 1: you know. So my dad was all about having the
13:59
Speaker 1: Chiefs represent the NFL in those initiatives. And then of
14:03
Speaker 1: course we also had NFL Europe, which is, you know,
14:07
Speaker 1: something that our organization supported. Over time, we received a
14:11
Speaker 1: number of players who got their careers going in the
14:14
Speaker 1: NFL Europe and then came to the NFL. Ultimately, the
14:19
Speaker 1: league pivoted and decided that we've got to be bolder,
14:24
Speaker 1: and over the last ten to twelve years, the league
14:27
Speaker 1: decided really the best way to build a fan base
14:29
Speaker 1: internationally is to play regular season games, and that's something
14:34
Speaker 1: that we've embraced as well, playing a game in London,
14:38
Speaker 1: playing a game in Mexico City a few years ago,
14:41
Speaker 1: and then, as you mentioned, we've got the game coming
14:43
Speaker 1: up in Germany, and now the league has given the
14:45
Speaker 1: teams the ability to market internationally here in the last
14:50
Speaker 1: eighteen months or so, and the Chiefs were awarded the
14:54
Speaker 1: rights to Germany in Mexico, and so we've been working
14:58
Speaker 1: on that and we really just think getting to play
15:01
Speaker 1: a game there next year is really going to cause
15:03
Speaker 1: the Chiefs Kingdom to continue to grow in Germany and
15:08
Speaker 1: throughout Europe. You know, it's a Tampa Bay Seattle game.
15:11
Speaker 1: We were over there in Munich and I'm walking down
15:13
Speaker 1: the street with one of my co hosts and I
15:15
Speaker 1: see a Chiefs bar in Munich. You've got Seattle and
15:20
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay playing, but there was a Chiefs dedicated sports bar.
15:23
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm like, oh, certainly it's just expats who
15:25
Speaker 1: live over here. And I walked in and it was Germans,
15:29
Speaker 1: Germans who loved the Kansas City Chiefs, and I said,
15:32
Speaker 1: all right, this is more than just hey, we're gonna
15:34
Speaker 1: put a game in there and leave. This is a
15:36
Speaker 1: commitment from the NFL and it's starting to pay off.
15:39
Speaker 1: I also know you're very invested in the World Cup
15:42
Speaker 1: and what that means to Kansas City coming up in
15:44
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. And soccer runs deep in your family.
15:47
Speaker 1: You yourself or the captain of the SMU soccer team,
15:50
Speaker 1: obviously your father's amazing involvement in soccer in the States.
15:54
Speaker 1: To know that there's gonna be a World Cup game
15:56
Speaker 1: played in Kansas City. What's that mean to you? Yeah,
15:59
Speaker 1: really really special. If you go back to the nineteen
16:02
Speaker 1: ninety World World Cups, the US also hosted. My dad
16:06
Speaker 1: made that ort to get games in Kansas City, and
16:09
Speaker 1: ultimately FIFA made the decision not to do that. And
16:13
Speaker 1: so when the opportunity resurfaced on the twenty six World Cup,
16:17
Speaker 1: we jumped on and worked really hard and it's just
16:21
Speaker 1: an incredible win for the city to get to be
16:24
Speaker 1: one of the World Cup posts. There's no better way
16:27
Speaker 1: to market a city on an international stage than getting
16:30
Speaker 1: to host a World Cup game. So we're really excited
16:33
Speaker 1: about it. It'll be a special moment for our family
16:37
Speaker 1: when that first game kicks off an Arrowhead because there
16:40
Speaker 1: was no place that my dad loved better than Arrowhead Stadium,
16:45
Speaker 1: and you know, having a World Cup game played played
16:47
Speaker 1: in that venue is going to be really really special
16:51
Speaker 1: for the listeners. Can you just shed a little light
16:53
Speaker 1: on your father's connection to soccer in America? I think,
16:56
Speaker 1: I mean, I've read the book Michael McCambridge. Your dad's
16:58
Speaker 1: commitment to soccer as well as football is the stuff
17:01
Speaker 1: of legend yeah, happy to do that just from a
17:04
Speaker 1: contact standpoint. And and I want to tell the whole
17:07
Speaker 1: story because it's long, But the NFL and my dad's
17:10
Speaker 1: American Football League had agreed to merge in nineteen sixty six.
17:16
Speaker 1: After a big struggle in battle for five or six
17:20
Speaker 1: years and having succeeded with the AFL, I think my
17:25
Speaker 1: dad decided that he needed a new challenge, and so
17:28
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty seven he got involved with what became
17:31
Speaker 1: the North American Soccer League, which was really the first
17:34
Speaker 1: division soccer league in the United States. His team with
17:39
Speaker 1: the Dallas Tornado that played in Dallas, and that league
17:42
Speaker 1: lasted about fifteen years. He'd actually fallen in love with
17:47
Speaker 1: the sport first seeing a game with my mother when
17:51
Speaker 1: she was in Ireland on a fellowship. He went over
17:54
Speaker 1: and visited her and they saw a pro game. I
17:57
Speaker 1: think that may have been his first pro game. And
17:59
Speaker 1: then he saw the nineteen sixty sixth Final between West
18:04
Speaker 1: Germany and England, which is considered George best, one of
18:08
Speaker 1: the great finals of all the time, and he was
18:12
Speaker 1: captivated by the fans. And as he looked at that
18:16
Speaker 1: game on TV, he said, you know that game has
18:19
Speaker 1: played on the field that looks about the same size
18:21
Speaker 1: as the American football field. So I think part of
18:26
Speaker 1: his motivation was, Hey, we could have a soccer league
18:30
Speaker 1: and here in the US they could play mostly in
18:32
Speaker 1: the summer and play in these new stadiums that were
18:36
Speaker 1: being built at the time. So the process to build
18:40
Speaker 1: Arrowhead was actually under way in sixty six sixty seven.
18:43
Speaker 1: The same thing with Texas Stadium in Dallas. That effort
18:47
Speaker 1: was already underway, and he knew that stadium was going
18:50
Speaker 1: to be built and so he thought, hey, this will
18:52
Speaker 1: just be be a perfect fit. As it turned out,
18:55
Speaker 1: he was about forty years early with that. Uh you know,
18:59
Speaker 1: it's a great visionary but his vision on soccer was
19:01
Speaker 1: a little bit early. But as soon as the opportunity
19:04
Speaker 1: came back around in nineteen nine six when Major League
19:08
Speaker 1: Soccer started, he jumped in with both feet. We started
19:13
Speaker 1: out owning two franchises, one in Kansas City, one in Columbus, Ohio.
19:17
Speaker 1: We later added Dallas to the portfolio, so we were
19:20
Speaker 1: running three MLS teams at once, and you know, he
19:25
Speaker 1: loved it, even though it was really really hard. You know,
19:28
Speaker 1: now that league has really taken off over the last
19:31
Speaker 1: ten to fifteen years, and we're going to have the
19:34
Speaker 1: World Cup back, as you mentioned, which I think will
19:37
Speaker 1: just be a celebration of what soccer has become in
19:40
Speaker 1: the United States. What a cool story. That's an amazing story.
19:44
Speaker 1: I love that you personally. Let's go back a couple
19:47
Speaker 1: of years twenty nineteen. This amazing run Sammy Watkins catches
19:51
Speaker 1: that deep pass in the AFC Championship game, and like,
19:53
Speaker 1: you get the chills down your spine. You're like, this
19:56
Speaker 1: actually might happen. It's been fifty years. We're going back
19:59
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl, that AFC Championship game against Tennessee.
20:03
Speaker 1: I know everyone focuses on the Super Bowl and hoisting
20:05
Speaker 1: the Lombardy, they have to think hoisting the trophy with
20:08
Speaker 1: your father's name on it and going back to Super
20:09
Speaker 1: Bowl that was pretty special stuff as well. Yeah, it
20:12
Speaker 1: absolutely was. There'll never be an experience again like that
20:16
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen season, in part because of the journey that
20:21
Speaker 1: took to get there. Right, it had been fifty years
20:24
Speaker 1: since the Chiefs had appeared in a Super Bowl. We
20:27
Speaker 1: had never held the trophy that has my dad's name
20:30
Speaker 1: on it, or trophy given the AFC champion and to
20:34
Speaker 1: stand on that stage, you know, after that game, received
20:38
Speaker 1: that trophy, had my mother kiss it, which still brings
20:43
Speaker 1: tears in my eyes just thinking about, and then looking
20:46
Speaker 1: up at our fans who had stayed glued through their
20:50
Speaker 1: seat even though it was seventeen degrees and they'd been
20:53
Speaker 1: out four or five hours freezing, and nobody left because
20:57
Speaker 1: it was such a special moment and so important to
21:01
Speaker 1: Kansas City. So I'll never forget that for sure. And then,
21:05
Speaker 1: of course, you know, closing the deal in Miami a
21:09
Speaker 1: couple of weeks later, winning the Labari Trophy, you know,
21:13
Speaker 1: made it truly a perfect season. Yeah, and the Chiefs
21:16
Speaker 1: fans are a nationwide fan base. You know, we've had
21:20
Speaker 1: on the podcast two of them who happened to be celebrities.
21:23
Speaker 1: Paul Rudd is a is a huge Chief than he
21:25
Speaker 1: came on early in the season. Eric stone Street last week,
21:27
Speaker 1: I know you started the game by banging the drum.
21:30
Speaker 1: Eric took over in the fourth quarter and got everyone
21:32
Speaker 1: going Super Bowl Sunday, They'll both be there. Where will
21:37
Speaker 1: you be And what is your day like as you
21:39
Speaker 1: gear up to say, hey, let's hoist this thing one
21:41
Speaker 1: more time. Take us through the day. Of Clark Hunt
21:43
Speaker 1: and the family as you gear up for Super Bowl
21:46
Speaker 1: fifty seven. Yeah, well, we'll start out the morning at
21:50
Speaker 1: the hotel. And something that Jonathan Craft shared with me
21:55
Speaker 1: a few years ago when we were going to Super
21:58
Speaker 1: Bowl fifty four was to make sure you take some
22:00
Speaker 1: time that warning to just reflect on where you are
22:04
Speaker 1: and what you're doing. It's really easy on Super Bowl
22:07
Speaker 1: Sunday to be at one of them after the other,
22:09
Speaker 1: which will certainly do in the afternoon, but in the morning,
22:12
Speaker 1: I think it'll just be some quiet family time, just
22:16
Speaker 1: really celebrating the fact that we're back in the Super Bowl.
22:20
Speaker 1: Then we'll go to the stadium. The Chiefs have a
22:23
Speaker 1: tailgate party plan for our staff and some fans and
22:28
Speaker 1: friends who are going to be there, So I'll swing
22:32
Speaker 1: by and uh, you know, say a lot of the
22:34
Speaker 1: group there. Then I'll head over to the NFL tailgate party,
22:38
Speaker 1: eat some shrimp. Probably that's gonna say like are we
22:41
Speaker 1: hanging or are we like tens? I feel like I
22:43
Speaker 1: would be just like a drum that day. Yeah, you know,
22:47
Speaker 1: I've wanted to really be calm until the balls in
22:50
Speaker 1: the air. So first of all, there's nothing I can
22:53
Speaker 1: do that he can't do anything at that point. Yeah, yeah,
22:55
Speaker 1: I can't do anything, you know, you know, during the game,
22:58
Speaker 1: et cetera. But you know, before the game, I've wanted
23:01
Speaker 1: to be freely relaxed, but the tension will definitely build
23:05
Speaker 1: is as we head towards takoff and as soon as
23:08
Speaker 1: the balls in the air, my nerves will be crazy.
23:10
Speaker 1: Now I know you're competitive, and not because of the
23:12
Speaker 1: way that you conduct your business with football. I know
23:14
Speaker 1: it because Eric stone Street told me about a Washers
23:17
Speaker 1: tournament in training camp. Can you go into this a
23:19
Speaker 1: little bit. What do we got going on? And how
23:21
Speaker 1: are you beating stone Street in a competitive game? So
23:26
Speaker 1: we had a lot of competitive people around me. The
23:29
Speaker 1: Juice organization and our general manager, Bred Beach came up
23:33
Speaker 1: with a Washers tournament for the mostly for the personnel staff,
23:39
Speaker 1: and this year was the second or third version of that.
23:42
Speaker 1: I had not gotten drafted to play in the past
23:45
Speaker 1: year versions, but Bred told me about it when it
23:48
Speaker 1: was and I made sure that I was there for it.
23:51
Speaker 1: And I'd never played Washers, so it was a new experience.
23:55
Speaker 1: And you know, we had about sixteen teams and multiple
23:58
Speaker 1: rounds and face off with stone Street at one point
24:03
Speaker 1: and you got the better of him. And I'm not sure.
24:06
Speaker 1: I'm not sure he's over right. He's still talking about it.
24:10
Speaker 1: But but anyhow, it was. It was a lot, a
24:12
Speaker 1: lot of fun. And Mike Bradway, who's on our staff,
24:15
Speaker 1: and I wait, we missed to pull out the victory.
24:18
Speaker 1: And so I'm the reigning Wash Roos champion. Okay, so
24:22
Speaker 1: you had never played before your first time out there,
24:25
Speaker 1: you win. I mean, this is like having Isaiah Pacheco
24:28
Speaker 1: and Jalen Watson and these rookies come out of nowhere
24:31
Speaker 1: and be making make plays in the AFC Championship Game.
24:33
Speaker 1: This is the parallel. That's what I'm gonna say. Yeah, well,
24:35
Speaker 1: maybe maybe we were just foreshadowing how important rookies were
24:38
Speaker 1: going to base. You're setting the table and no doubt
24:43
Speaker 1: ten rookies all that playing a role on this team.
24:45
Speaker 1: Four was going to start in Super Bowl. I can't
24:47
Speaker 1: say enough about the rookie class here. Uh. In closing, Clark,
24:51
Speaker 1: thanks for doing this. The Hunt Family Foundation does incredible
24:55
Speaker 1: work and I know that's a passion as well. Several
24:58
Speaker 1: different initiatives. I know education is one of them that's
25:01
Speaker 1: close to your heart. What does the foundation working on
25:03
Speaker 1: these days and where could listeners kind of direct their tension. Yeah, well,
25:08
Speaker 1: we've had a charitable effort really since my dad bought
25:11
Speaker 1: the team to Kansas City back in the sixties. That
25:13
Speaker 1: was something that he focused on with the players and
25:16
Speaker 1: staff and you wanted to make sure that they were
25:19
Speaker 1: contributing to the community. And that's something that we've just
25:22
Speaker 1: carried on and really elevated over the last ten or
25:26
Speaker 1: fifteen years. And we do a lot of stuff with education,
25:30
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, a lot of children's initiatives in Kansas City,
25:34
Speaker 1: and then we've really focused the last several years on
25:36
Speaker 1: supporting the players in their efforts. And of course you're
25:40
Speaker 1: probably aware that Patrick Mahomes is up with Walter Payton
25:44
Speaker 1: Man of the Year at NFL Honors tomorrow night, and
25:51
Speaker 1: I think he has a great chance to win. I
25:53
Speaker 1: went to his foundation's banquet a month ago and were
25:58
Speaker 1: so impressed by the great work he's doing in Kansas City.
26:01
Speaker 1: So if you want to support something, let's support the
26:04
Speaker 1: fifteen and Mahomies Foundation, which is the name of Patrick's foundation.
26:08
Speaker 1: I love it. I start wish you good luck. You know,
26:12
Speaker 1: this is a football game but for what the Chiefs
26:14
Speaker 1: have done over the last decade and changes is it's
26:17
Speaker 1: the stuff that you know, dynasties are built on. I
26:19
Speaker 1: know you guys don't like using those kind of words,
26:21
Speaker 1: but the success is unparalleled right now in the NFL,
26:24
Speaker 1: and you guys are one of the class organizations of
26:26
Speaker 1: the league. Congratulations on everything and good luck on Sunday. Clark, right, well,
26:31
Speaker 1: thanks very much and so fun being on with you today.
26:34
Speaker 1: Awesome guys. Clark Hunt, CEO and chairman of the Kansas
26:38
Speaker 1: City Chiefs joining us from Super Bowl in Arizona. So
26:42
Speaker 1: if he's seven is Sunday, we'll see how it all
26:44
Speaker 1: goes down. But we know the Chiefs are in very
26:46
Speaker 1: good hands. Clark Hunt, CEO and Chairman of the Kansas
26:53
Speaker 1: City Chiefs. You're not getting that interview everywhere else. I
26:56
Speaker 1: appreciate him taking the time. Busy week, as you heard,
26:59
Speaker 1: he's pulling for Patrick Mahomes to win Walter Peyton Man
27:02
Speaker 1: of the Year. We were discussing that earlier in the week,
27:05
Speaker 1: and I didn't think of my homes because I was thinking,
27:07
Speaker 1: all right, you've got all these other guys who aren't
27:09
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl. I wonder if can my homes
27:11
Speaker 1: be the winner of the Wilter Pitton Man of the Year.
27:14
Speaker 1: Either way, go google Lamar Hunt and the soccer stuff
27:19
Speaker 1: sounds incredible. The AFL stuff with Lamar Hunt is I'm
27:23
Speaker 1: telling you, I watch what is it call it hang
27:27
Speaker 1: Time about the Lakers and the eight a winning time
27:30
Speaker 1: the Lakers in the eighties. I swear there is a
27:34
Speaker 1: show or a movie to be made fictionalized, of course,
27:37
Speaker 1: with a little bit of flavor of the start of
27:40
Speaker 1: the AFL, because those were the wild, wild West days
27:43
Speaker 1: of football. Then the merger with the NFL and Lamar
27:46
Speaker 1: Hunts front center and all of it. That's Clark's dad.
27:50
Speaker 1: He passes the Chiefs of course, go through a few
27:52
Speaker 1: head coaches, you know, they go through a couple general managers,
27:55
Speaker 1: and then Andy Reid and eventually Brett Veach and now
27:58
Speaker 1: there the model of consistency in the NFL. Really like
28:03
Speaker 1: the Chiefs organization. I really like the Eagles organization. In
28:07
Speaker 1: part two of this podcast, which you will get on
28:11
Speaker 1: your feed coming up shortly, I also am going to
28:14
Speaker 1: sit down with Jeffrey Lorie, the president, the chairman, and
28:18
Speaker 1: the CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles. That's going to be
28:22
Speaker 1: Part two. Click on that next really interesting stuff. His
28:25
Speaker 1: perspective on the Andy Reid transition from Philly to Kansas City,
28:29
Speaker 1: and of course what makes the Eagles such a successful organization.
28:34
Speaker 1: That's gonna be Part two. Our sponsor, Draft Kings. Let's
28:39
Speaker 1: get into it. It's the over under presented by DraftKings Sportsbook.
28:44
Speaker 1: I want to give you a couple names, a couple
28:47
Speaker 1: of lines that maybe are not being mentioned everywhere else.
28:50
Speaker 1: Start with Kenneth Gainwell. Kenneth Gainwell has an incredible story
28:56
Speaker 1: to him. He was a crazy athlete out of Yazoo City,
29:01
Speaker 1: Mississippi in high school where he went to yaow Zoo
29:04
Speaker 1: City County High and say yeah, Zoo County High. Gainwell
29:09
Speaker 1: had one hundred touchdowns as the high school quarterback. Goes
29:11
Speaker 1: to Memphis as a running back, misses all of twenty
29:14
Speaker 1: twenty because of COVID reasons. He lost four different family
29:18
Speaker 1: members to COVID. He himself said I'm not playing this
29:21
Speaker 1: season health concerns. Goes into the draft and the Eagles
29:25
Speaker 1: take him in the fourth round, where he joins his
29:27
Speaker 1: cousin Fletcher Cox on the Philadelphia Eagles. A year later,
29:31
Speaker 1: playoffs he's their game breaker. And right now, Kenneth Gainwell
29:36
Speaker 1: hasn't any time touchdown of plus three ten in the
29:40
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and he's got a receiving yards over eleven
29:44
Speaker 1: point five at minus one fifteen. Meanwhile, everyone's talking about Pacheco.
29:50
Speaker 1: Jerrick McKinnon is an interesting player on the Kansas City Chiefs.
29:54
Speaker 1: He's there running back who does all the blocking on
29:56
Speaker 1: those passing downs, but also all the receptions when they
30:00
Speaker 1: do those little dumpoffs from Mahomes. Jerick McKinnon receiving yards,
30:04
Speaker 1: if he goes over twenty and a half yards, that's
30:07
Speaker 1: minus one twenty. If he goes under twenty and a
30:10
Speaker 1: half yards, it's one ten. His rushing yards over nineteen
30:14
Speaker 1: and a half rushing yards it's minus one twenty. Under
30:17
Speaker 1: nineteen and a half rushing yards, it's minus one ten.
30:20
Speaker 1: I would just say this. McKinnon catching the ball has
30:23
Speaker 1: been a big theme for the Kansas City Chiefs, and
30:26
Speaker 1: the last one Jalen Hurts over a half interception, under
30:31
Speaker 1: a half interception. If you want to say it's over,
30:33
Speaker 1: he's gonna throw a pick, it's plus one oh five.
30:35
Speaker 1: If you say he's not gonna throw a pick, it's
30:37
Speaker 1: minus one thirty five. Those are three players and three
30:41
Speaker 1: different things that I would be watching in this game.
30:43
Speaker 1: Not everyone else is talking about Gainwell and McKinnon. I
30:46
Speaker 1: assure you Gainwell and McKinnon will be playing roles in
30:49
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31:55
Speaker 1: podcast episode Again. I want to thank Jason English, the maestro,
31:59
Speaker 1: the man behind the curtain, who's making this all happen,
32:02
Speaker 1: Kurt Garand who is filling in nobly to help out
32:06
Speaker 1: while are here on site in Arizona. I want to
32:08
Speaker 1: thank the man Aaron Wong Kaufman, always tremendous on the podcast,
32:13
Speaker 1: and of course the NFL network side, Matthew Schneider, Jason Kleinman,
32:17
Speaker 1: Meredith Batten, who has been fantastic and getting these podcasts
32:22
Speaker 1: up and out the last few days. Guys, I'll be
32:25
Speaker 1: on Good Morning Football all mornings throughout the week if
32:28
Speaker 1: you're watching and you're listening, and of course on Suitabowl Sunday,
32:31
Speaker 1: I will be guess what would you say? I would
32:34
Speaker 1: be prominently featured on the pregame show. I'm covering the
32:38
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs Aaron Andrews will take it during the game,
32:40
Speaker 1: and then I will be back in postgame doing interviews
32:44
Speaker 1: with the players, and we'll see might be Clark Kant,
32:46
Speaker 1: might be Jeffrey Lorie. We're not sure how it's gonna
32:48
Speaker 1: work either way. I will be a part of that
32:50
Speaker 1: covered for Fox. Cannot wait, and also just want to
32:53
Speaker 1: thank all you guys for listening. There's a part two
32:55
Speaker 1: coming right up now. If you're an Eagles fan, you
32:58
Speaker 1: will love it. If you're not an Eagles fan, you'll
32:59
Speaker 1: find it fascinating because Jeffrey Lorie is one of the
33:02
Speaker 1: more interesting guys in the league and doesn't talk often
33:05
Speaker 1: with podcasts, so I'm excited about that. Till then, everybody,
33:10
Speaker 1: enjoy the football. The Season with Peter Schrager is a
33:29
Speaker 1: production of the NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio. For more
33:33
Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever
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Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.