HENDERSON, Nev. — The Kansas City Chiefs were booed loudly by fans when they were introduced on Super Bowl opening night on Monday. The reaction may have been a bit skewed by the presence of fans of the Las Vegas Raiders, one of the Chiefs' biggest rivals.
But there appears to be fatigue among football fans about the success of the Chiefs, who on Sunday play the San Francisco 49ers for their fourth Super Bowl championship in five seasons.
Bosses have noticed. Defensive tackle Chris Jones called the Chiefs “bad guys” in the eyes of many fans. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes said disappointing those fans wasn't necessarily a goal of his.
“I think I like to win. If you win a lot and it makes you evil, I'm OK with that,” Mahomes said. But at the end of the day, I'll enjoy the game and try to win as much as I can.
The Chiefs seemed to be a fan favorite when they faced the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV four years ago. They were then viewed as new participants. In fact, this Super Bowl appearance was the franchise's first in 50 years.
Additionally, the Chiefs had some new stars on the national stage, most notably Mahomes. But fans are now familiar with Mahomes, Jones and Travis Kelce.
“Everyone used to love us. We used to be one of the favorite teams. Now everyone's ready for the Chiefs to lose,” Jones said.
“It's okay. They can keep hating. You call it hate when you win with a big majority. The problem is we haven't won as much as people think. We've only won twice [Super Bowls], right? “We only won two out of three.”
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