It has been 10 months since the confetti fluttered in south Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium, since the Kansas City Chiefs ended their fitful, half-century quest for a second Super Bowl championship. Now, they’re trying to become first NFL franchise in 16 years to repeat. 

As the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs enter the final five-game stretch of the current regular season, author and journalist David Smale joins the Library’s Steve Wieberg in both reflecting back and looking ahead. They draw from Smale’s new book on the Chiefs’ 57-year history in KC, The Keys to the Kingdom: An Illustrated Timeline of the Kansas City Chiefs, which feature a highlight-by-highlight account of their 2019 march to a title. 

A franchise fronted over the years by Hank Stram, Len Dawson, Bobby Bell, and Derrick Thomas is now the team of coach Andy Reid and the gifted, 25-year-old Mahomes. Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida, is 68 days away, and Smale tantalizingly writes that “the fun is far from over.” 

Smale has covered sports – professional, college, and high school – for more than 40 years for a range of outlets including The Kansas City Star and the Associated Press. He’s also the author of 21 books, most on sports history. Wieberg spent 30 years writing about sports for USA Today.