By Steve Keating
PHOENIX (Reuters) – Two brothers and two Black quarterbacks will mark very different firsts on Sunday when the National Football League’s two best teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, meet in the Super Bowl.
Led by the wizardry of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was named the league’s most valuable player for a second time on Thursday, the Chiefs are back in the NFL championship game for the third time in four years and on the cusp of a dynasty.
The Eagles’ hopes of lifting the Lombardi trophy for the first time since 2018 will also hinge greatly on the play of their young quarterback Jalen Hurts and a menacing defence that led the league in sacks.
As the NFL continues to wrestle with diversity issues, particularly among the head coaching and front office ranks, the Super Bowl will mark another milestone as the first with two Black quarterbacks.
“I think about it a lot, the quarterbacks that came before me,” said Mahomes. “It goes across all sports.
“If you think about Jackie Robinson and people that broke the colour barrier in baseball, I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for them.
“I think about that all the time and to be lucky enough to be in this position and to play against another great guy like Jalen, it’s going be a special moment.”
DUAL THREAT
Thirty-five years after Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start the championship game, Mahomes and Hurts will take the baton but the match-up is more than historic.
Hurts, in just his third season, is cast from the mould of a classic dual threat who can beat you throwing the ball and running.
Mahomes, making his third Super Bowl appearance in six seasons, led the league in passing with 5,250 yards and can also beat opponents with the run and outthink them, possessing a high football IQ and level of creativity Picasso or Mozart would applaud.
Each team will have a Pro-Bowl Kelce on the field with tight end Travis, the favourite target for Mahomes, and Jason, the centre for Hurts, marking the first time brothers will have gone against each other at the Super Bowl.
The ‘Kelce Bowl’ is a less significant moment than having two Black quarterbacks but a fun diversion, with the siblings’ mother Donna embracing the spotlight.
She has been making the rounds in her combination Eagles-Chiefs jersey, becoming the Super Bowl’s celebrity du jour.
GRUDGE MATCH
On the surface the game has the makings of a juicy coaching grudge match, with Kansas City head coach Andy Reid leading the Chiefs against the Eagles, who he took to the Super Bowl in 2005 before being fired following the 2012 season.
Reid was quickly hired by the Chiefs, taking over from Romeo Crennel, and immediately cleaned house, including not retaining assistant coach Nick Sirianni who is now Philadelphia head coach.
Human resources departments could use the two as a case study on how to sack employees without too many hard feelings.
“He didn’t have to bring me in to talk to me, to let me go, right? But he did because it seems like that’s the type of person he is,” Sirianni told reporters.
“I was grateful for that, even though you don’t like it at the time. You don’t like the fact that you’re getting let go.”
There is no need for an injection of manufactured hostilities into a Super Bowl that features two 16-3 teams in a contest packed with compelling match-ups, the most intriguing being Mahomes against the Eagles defence.
A high ankle sprain that Mahomes sustained in the division final against the Jacksonville Jaguars no longer appears a major concern, which means more headaches for the Philadelphia pass rush.
But the Eagles, who led the NFL in sacks, were second in yards allowed per-game and third in takeaways, are better equipped than most to neutralise Kansas City’s explosive attack and keep Mahomes from making Houdini like escapes.
“He (Mahomes) is very special,” said Sirianni. “He does things that you watch and you just kind of shake your head.
“We’re going have to be on (top of) it and have everything we’ve got to contain him because we know how good a football player he is.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Phoenix. Additional reporting Liliana Salgado. Editing by Ken Ferris)
