The Kansas City Chiefs Pray And Follow God And Other Franchises Might Be Wise To Copy Them

After a short field goal attempt flew directly into one upright and, as if guided by Devine Intervention, bounded in between the posts to give the Kansas City Chiefs another victory, coach Andy Reid called up his team in a locker room speech that eventually led to prayer.

The Kansas City Chiefs Pray

"Let's take a knee," Reid ordered his players.

And as they have for years, the Chiefs prayed after the game. 

This has been the way for the team that has won three Super Bowls in five years. In good times and bad, after wins and after losses, the Chiefs pray as a team.

And, to be honest, a lot of these players get on their knees before games as well. 

No, not to protest something – although that happened to varying degrees from 2016-2020 – but to get help from God. Or thank God for help he's already provided.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 27:  Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs knells in prayer during the NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on October 27, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Chiefs defeated the Raiders 27-20.  (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Patrick Mahomes Prays Before Each Game

So, backup quarterback Carson Wentz is praying. And starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes is praying.

Guys about to try taking an opponent's head off (figuratively, of course) are praying. And guys hoping nobody takes their heads off are praying.

"Before every game, I walk the field and I do a prayer at the goal post," quarterback Patrick Mahomes said before Super Bowl LV in Tampa. "I just thank God for those opportunities and I thank God for letting me be on a stage where I can glorify Him."

That leads to questions: Why does this matter? What's the point?

Well, maybe a full review of the Kansas City Chiefs as an organization will say they are successful because they have great coaching, great personnel management, a great quarterback in Mahomes, and supportive ownership. 

But perhaps that's an incomplete picture of the organization. Because it makes no room for the possibility the Chiefs, winners of 15 consecutive one-possession games, have the favor of God on their franchise for a time such as this.

KANSAS CITY, MO - AUGUST 24: Kansas City Chiefs players kneel in prayer before an NFL preseason game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs on August 24, 2019 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO.  (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Copycat NFL Should Copy Chiefs

Sound foolish? Ridiculous, even?

The NFL is an often foolish and ridiculous league for much lesser things than the presence of God. 

The NFL, for example, is a copycat league. If one team is winning and having success, other teams almost reflexively copy what the winners are doing to try to increase their chances of producing similar results.

This was a thing during the New England Patriots dynasty when teams suddenly clamped down on giving out injury information because the Patriots were doing it. 

Teams similarly didn't want assistant coaches speaking with the press because the Patriots didn't allow it for fear the coaches would inadvertently provide opponents with information that could be used against them – a practice that eventually stopped because the NFL now mandates assistants speak to the media.

If teams spent time copying something so mundane as keeping coaches from talking to reporters, you would think they might try to copy the Chiefs in the manner and frequency they talk to God.

KANSAS CITY, MO - AUGUST 16:  Kansas City Chiefs players pray before a game against the San Francisco 49ers on August 16, 2013 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.  (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

The Naysayers Get Their Say

And I know what's incoming: 

The scoffers. 

The cynics. 

The doubters. The people who mock the very idea God exists, and more so the possibility that the Chiefs are in any way successful because of their obvious attempts to connect with Him.

Those people will point out that the Chiefs have offensive line problems. Why hasn't God fixed that? Or the Chiefs don't win every game. Isn't God perfect?

Or what about the other teams that pray to God? How come they're not making a run at a Super Bowl three-peat?

My answer: I don't know, non-believers. 

Ask God.

Chiefs Provide Church On Game Day

What I do know is the Chiefs are fully invested in their faith. Maybe not every single individual. Each person in that organization is obviously free to worship whichever way they want or whomever they want. And they're also free to worship nothing, or no one.

But from the franchise perspective, the Kansas City Chiefs worship God and his son Jesus Christ.

It doesn't take a well-trained investigative journalist to find this out. Not that too many investigative journalists are interested in such matters.

The Chiefs, for example, have for a decade offered non-denominational pregame Faith and Family Chapel service for fans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium before each Sunday noon home game. 

In an age when most other franchises have gotten rid of the on-field pregame invocation so common decades ago, the Chiefs have Cedric Hardimon, the lead Pastor of Life Church of East Kansas City, lead services along with team chaplain Marcellus Casey.

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - FEBRUARY 02: Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and his family huddle for a prayer in game action during the Super Bowl LIV game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on February 2, 2020 at Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami Gardens, FL. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Mission: Lead People To Jesus Christ

And what are the pastor and chaplain preaching about? 

"Our mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ," the church's mission statement reads.

A number of Chiefs players, coaches and staff are already there. 

Star defensive tackle Chris Jones, for example, told Sports Spectrum in 2021, "I play for God, Jesus Christ.

"I believe my faith is everything and that's what I live by."

Hunt Family Are Christians

Chiefs' ownership is definitely on board with that.

The Chiefs are owned by the Hunt family, with Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt leading the way.

"My identity is my faith in Christ," Hunt said prior to Super Bowl LVII. "The Lord has blessed our family in so many ways."

The Hunt family gets a lot of publicity because of its sports, business and philanthropic initiatives. 

The family also has its very own social media influencer, Gracie Hunt, who is popular because she's young and beautiful and a former beauty pageant winner.  Mother Tavia, by the way, was also a beauty pageant winner.

Gracie Hunt Spotlights Romans 

Gracie Hunt has 570,000 followers on Instagram. And her biography includes her favorite Scripture – Romans 8:28.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Interesting, no? 

God works for good for those who love Him. And that has obviously manifested for the Kansas City Chiefs.