There are 1,696 players in the NFL spread across 32 teams in two divisions, the AFC and NFC between those two divisions only one team gets to represent each side. This year the teams who will be playing in the big game are the Kansas City Chiefs (AFC champions) and the San Francisco 49ers (NFC champions.)
Between those two teams that leaves about 106 players every year who get the chance to suit up for the biggest game in sports.
This year we are seeing the return of the Chiefs who were just in this game exactly a year ago when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35.
So that lead’s to the question, how much does past expereience help a team in a game like this?
I was able to talk to plenty of Chief players at the 2024 Super Bowl Media Day and this is what they had to say about preparing for a Super Bowl for a second year in a row.
Starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes is one of many players on the Chiefs who has felt the emotions of both sides of the Super Bowl, the excitement of winning and the pain of defeat.
“When you lose a Super Bowl it hurts, it hurts a lot.” said Mahomes, “that’s what we’ve done this entire season, that’s been our mindset is to continue to get better and that’s whats gotten us here today.”
The other offensive leader of the Chiefs is tight end Travis Kelce who described the Super Bowl as nothing more than a 2×4 on the ground which he heard from current football analyst and former football coach Jimmy Johnson, “If you ask someone to walk that two by four, they’ll just jump on it,” said Kelce, “you put it 20 feet in the air all of the sudden nobody feels as comfortable walking on that board…all it is, is not making this game bigger than it is.”
On the defensive side of the ball safety Justin Reid talked about how focus is heightened in a game like this, “You just have such a higher level of focus, we were focused on the game and the task at hand last year but everything was so new and different,” Reid said, “Where as this year, I kinda prepare and expect it and having that experience already allows me to delve even more so into the gameplan this week.”
These experiences aren’t limited to just veterans of the team, with younger players like Isiah Pacheco and George Karlaftis only being in the league for one year but having played in the Super Bowl as starters in their first year.
“Just having that experience,” said Karlaftis, “being able to take that to a second Super Bowl.”
All this experience leads to first year Super Bowl players or rookie players being more prepared than the average rookie player, players like Rashee Rice, who just came into the league this season but are getting very valuable advice, in Rice’s case he’s getting it from a fellow player at his position, “I would say MVS, (Marquez Valdes-Scantling,) truthfully speaking,” said Rice, “He kinda helped me throughout the whole season but he kinda just lets me know, it’s gonna be a long beginning to the game, a long halftime, you just gotta find ways to stay warm.”
The Chiefs past success makes them well prepared for the game coming up, while the 49ers aren’t without players who have played in the big game before, the number is drastically lower than Kansas City’s which could be an early advantage for the Chiefs before the 60 minute timer even begins to tick down.
The Chiefs have the potential of doing something that football fans haven’t seen since the 03’- 04’ New England Patriots which is repeat as Super Bowl Champions in back-to-back years.
While this feat is extremely rare it’s not their first rodeo being in this situation. Back in 2020 the Chiefs played in the Super Bowl again against the 49ers and won in comeback fashion 31-20.
The year following the Chiefs made it back to the game but lost to the Tom Brady led Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9.
With the clock winding down to Sunday’s big game, fans are eager to watch the rematch of 2019’s Super Bowl and eager to see if the 49ers will get revenge or if the Chiefs will be champions once again.
