TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Thousands of Kansas City Chiefs fans are headed to Arizona for Super Bowl LVII this weekend.
But several die-hards already live in Tucson, backing their team and their community year-round.
Jose Monreal is one of them. He wears his Chiefs pride on his sleeve and on his truck, which he gets cleaned before every game.
The white pickup sports decals across the doors, hood and truck bed—including an exulting Patrick Mahomes and the message ‘TAKE IT BACK.’
“Because we’re gonna take back that championship this year,” Monreal said.
Five years ago, he founded ‘Tucson Chiefs Kingdom’: dozens of Chiefs fans who meet every game day at Craft Republic on the Northwest side, a bar where Monreal used to work as a manager.
“I met some local Chiefs fans here so I was like, ‘Let’s make it a ‘Kingdom’ here,’” he explained.
“It’s gotten bigger and bigger,” said Kamber Brown, a bartender who has worked at Craft since Monreal was still there. “They started as kind of a smaller group. And now we’re having to reserve the rooms for them just to make sure we have enough space for them every Sunday.”
Jeremy Snow is the group’s ‘hype man,’ and for good reason.
“I’m normally really quiet and reserved, but when it comes to the Chiefs, I’m all out,” he said. “I lose my voice every week.”
Snow recalled choosing the Chiefs as his team while watching football with his dad, a Raiders fan.
“The Chiefs brought me through some hard times,” Snow said, getting emotional. “My dad died when I was young, my mom died when I was young. So they brought me through a lot of hard times in my life. And so I was able to rely on the Chiefs to get me through those things. And that’s why I think I’m such a hardcore fan.
“This group is my family. I don’t have family of my own. So I look forward to coming here every Sunday, every game time, because it’s my family for me.”
Every week, this ‘family’ buys from Tucson businesses — who make everything from signs to piñatas.
And during this year’s playoffs, the group has donated hundreds of dollars to groups like Casa Maria Soup Kitchen and The Lot on 22nd, which fight hunger and homelessness in Tucson.
“I see this [group] as a perfect opportunity to help out the community and help make everyone better,” Monreal said.
And thanks to a gift from a friend in the Phoenix area, one member of the Tucson ‘Kingdom’ will get to watch her team in person at Sunday’s Super Bowl in Glendale.
“I could cry every time I think about it,” said Gayle Johnson. “It’s so exciting that it’s my team, in the state that I live in. And it just couldn’t have come together any better than how it has… I just wanna take it in, just because I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again, for me.”
But win or lose, this ‘Kingdom’ will be together again.
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Ryan Fish is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9 and comes to the Sonoran Desert from California’s Central Coast after working as a reporter, sports anchor and weather forecaster in Santa Barbara. Ryan grew up in the Chicago suburbs, frequently visiting family in Tucson. Share your story ideas and important issues with Ryan by emailing ryan.fish@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
