After defeating the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship game, the Kansas City Chiefs are going back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1969. The 50-year drought was the third longest in the NFL. With his family holding season tickets for the past 26 years, life-long Chiefs fan and junior Jeremy Bredemeier, said his emotions were hard to hold in after many years of heartbreak.

“It was a complete rush of emotions. My dad has had season tickets for 26 years right behind the end zone and I can’t remember the last time I’ve missed a game,” Bredemeier said. “All the years of heartbreak and the drought years of going and knowing that it’s probably not going to be a good outcome. As soon as it hit all zeros the tears came running down, it was just a huge weight lifted off our shoulders.”

The past two games leading up to the Super Bowl, the Chiefs have had to overcome big deficits early, one being 24-0 to the Texans and one being 10-0 to the Titans. After the slow starts the Chiefs managed to outscore the Texans, 51-7 and outscore the Titans, 35-14. Bredemeier said the Chiefs need to come out with the same energy and passion that made the comebacks possible to win.

“I just think we have to come out with the passion the fire that we have had the last few games,” Bredemeier said. “We’ve been told ‘defense wins championships, can’t win a championship with just a firepower offense’ and finally we have a defense that’s top tier. We just need to take down the run game, come out with a passion, hit hard, take the quarterback down, and send a message.”

Having grown up in the Metro area, math teacher Teresa Hogan said she vaguely remembers the last time the Chiefs were in the Super Bowl, but thinks it has a larger impact on the city now.

“I grew up in Independence so that was even before Arrowhead was built and I would have been around 12,” Hogan said. “It’s probably a bigger deal now because I think people are more engaged and involved in sports and what it does for the city and the players personalities.”

While many will be upset if the Chiefs lose, Hogan said regardless of the result the team should be celebrated for making it as far as they have.

“We were just talking seventh hour about if we lose and the kids are talking about how depressed they’ll be if they lose,” Hogan said. “It’s the first time in so long that we’ve made it to the big game I think they deserve a parade, applause and congratulations just for the fact that they’re there.”

While the short-term success is evident, Bredemeier believes with quarterback Patrick Mahomes under center, the Chiefs will be set for the long-term as well.

“100 percent I knew as soon as we drafted him, I knew that it’d be something great,” Bredemeier said. “Now with him saying he wants to be in Kansas City for the rest of his career along with Kelce and with everything we’re forming around him with Andy Reid, Spag[nuolo], Tyrann Mathieu, Frank Clark, everything’s just coming together, the pieces are coming together.”