KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Five years ago, after the The Kansas City Chiefs had just rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers In their first Super Bowl appearance in five decades, Chris Jones sat behind a stage and was asked what the future held for him.
Now three times All-Pro defensive tackle, Jones was heading to free agency for the first time at the time.
“Next year we will come back,” he replied with a smile. “We’ll come back for a repeat.”
This year, the Chiefs are aiming for a treble. And the good-natured, game-destroying Jones has been there for it all.
Rather than hit free agency in January 2020 and after being granted a franchise tag, Jones signed a long-term contract to remain in Kansas City. He signed another bigger contract last March, which could mean Jones will play his entire career here. And that makes him one of the six elder statesmen of a franchise in the middle of a dynasty – those who will have played in seven straight AFC championship games when the Chiefs face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I’m getting old,” Jones, 30, said with a laugh. “It’s fun, though. It’s a challenge. It takes a lot of hard work, commitment, a lot of trust, a lot of encouragement throughout the year. A lot of selfless play within the team to continue doing this.
“We got this message at the chapel about climbing the mountain top,” Jones added. “You don’t want to stay up there because you can’t really breathe. The air is too thin. So you go back down. But the joy is climbing to the top of the mountain.
Few teams have been able to knock the Chiefs off the mountain.
They have won four of the last six AFC Championship games, and both losses came in overtime: against Patriots in the first of their streak of title matches in 2019 and at Bengals three years ago. When they reached the Super Bowl, only Tom Brady and Tampa Bay managed to stop Patrick Mahomes and Co. to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
Mahomes is another of six Chiefs players who have appeared in all seven conference championship games. The first came in his first year as a starter, when he destroyed records to win the first of his two NFL MVP awards. In that game against the Patriots, he threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in the losing effort.
To this day, Mahomes talks about how that loss at Arrowhead Stadium propelled him to all those future championships.
“Obviously you want to win three in a row,” Mahomes said, “but building those memories with the guys and with the community every year is special. When I think back to all the different Super Bowls we’ve won, I think back to the special moments we’ve had and the special games we’ve had. We will try to do the same this year.
“I mean, it’s been a fun ride so far,” Mahomes said, “but we want to get to that ultimate goal.”
Many people know how to get there.
Joining Jones and Mahomes is four-time All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce – who had seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs’ division. victory against Houston last Saturday – was present in all seven AFC title games. The same goes for perpetually overlooked but solid defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, long snapper James Winchester and kicker Harrison Butker.
Of course, there have been additional stars along the way. Tyrann Mathieu was the anchor of the defense early in the Chiefs’ seven-season stretch, and Tyreek Hill played a big role in their record-setting offenses. And there have been role players, such as running back Damien Williams and receiver Demarcus Robinson, who have shared in the collective success.
But these six who have always existed? They played 945 games together for the Chiefs, including 121 in the playoffs, when a single loss – a single mistake, in fact – could have ended such an incredible run.
There is something to be said for this experience, especially when the calendar rolls to the end of January.
“Experience helps,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Especially with some of the younger ones to be able to talk to them and talk to them about the urgency of this thing. It’s a simple elimination. That’s easier said than putting that into your brain and preparing for every moment you have in practice, training hard and being aggressive. You just have to make sure you stay really focused and keep distractions out as best you can.
___
