Category Archives: Kansas City Chiefs

Super Bowl Recap

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By: Lily Smith

March 31, 2025

Lily Smith is a second-year undergraduate at BGSU from Oregon, Ohio. She is majoring in Sport Management with a Marketing minor. In her spare time, she is an intern in the BGSU Athletics Marketing department, a BGSU Campus Tour Guide, and an avid reader. She is passionate about all things women’s sports, and all things women in sports.

Just about a month ago, I returned to campus from my trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. I went on the trip with 23 other members of the BGSU Sport Management Alliance (SMA). We travelled to New Orleans, Louisiana to work various different events surrounding Super Bowl LIX. 

Super Bowl LIX logo in front of the Caesars Super Dome

Day 1: Travel Trauma

Our first day of the trip was mainly a travel day. Our flight to New Orleans had a short layover in Denver. Although we were only in the Denver airport for about 30 minutes, I still got to see the mountains for the first time. 

A photo from our gate at Denver International Airport. 
A photo from our gate at Denver International Airport. 

Things turned downhill after landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. From our flight into Denver and then into New Orleans, I ended up getting altitude sickness from the rapid elevation change. Due to the traumatics of those few hours, I don’t remember much of our arrival into New Orleans. I know we did get to our hotel around 5pm, and I received about 30 phone calls from my mom making sure I was still alive.

The rest of the group was able to go to Opening Night, which from my understanding was similar to the Opening Ceremony at the Olympics. I stayed home and tried to recover from the day. They were able to see players, hear interviews, and overall celebrate New Orleans, and Super Bowl week. 

Day 2: Beignets and Exploring the City

After about 12-13 hours of sleep, a very long, very hot shower, and a Pedialyte, I was finally back on my feet, sorta. It is Tuesday now! The only thing we had scheduled for the day was training for one of our upcoming shifts. We were able to pick up our required credentials for the NFL, and our uniforms for the events we were working. 

We were also able to go to Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter and try some fresh beignets. Let me just say, they are delicious. Beignets are definitely something I am not going to eat outside of New Orleans, nothing will compare. We were able to do some small sightseeing, and just take in the overall experience of New Orleans. We went to Louis Armstrong Park, and then did a little shopping at the Nike Store. Then we went back to the hotel to change and refresh for dinner. I got that beautiful plate of shrimp alfredo pictured below.

Beignets at Cafe Du Monde.
Louis Armstrong Park
Shrimp alfredo at Katie’s
Beignets at Cafe Du Monde

Day 3: Botanical Gardens and First Shift

The next morning, we went to the City Park Botanical Gardens. It was very pretty in the gardens, and they had a lot of fascinating art and sculpture installations. The gardens had this precious cat, who did not want anything to do with us, but was very cute sunning itself.

After some fresh air, we headed to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to work our first shift at the Super Bowl Experience, presented by Panini. The first day, some of the other members of SMA and I worked the 40 yard dash for the kids’ rendition of the NFL Combine. We had a turf area that had 40 yards marked off, including a finish line and a foam area for participants to dive into at the end. Lots of kids wanted to race their friends and siblings. We also had adults and teenagers wanting to get in on the fun as well.

One of the main components of the whole event was making sure attendants of the event had the NFL OnePass app. This was their way of signing a waiver for the different games, but also a good way for the NFL to track participation rates. At each activation, attendants had to scan their app, so a lot of my job at the 40 yard dash station was making sure participants were ready to go before the race. It was definitely a learning curve for the fans, and myself. 

Kitty!!!
Botanical Garden
There were so many cool plants at the gardens. Things we would never see here in Ohio.

Day 4: LSU and Kylie Kelce

The next day, we went on a visit to Louisiana State University. This was one of my favorite things we did on the whole trip. In one of my previous entries, I did a deep dive on LSU’s Kim Mulkey. She is the head coach for their women’s basketball team. At the visit, we were able to see their basketball arena, the women’s locker room, and some practice facilities. Overall, you could feel the energy in those buildings. As a fan of women’s basketball, this was a magical experience for me. We were also able to go onto the field in Tiger Stadium, and see the whole LSU Football experience. It was amazing to be walking around a campus that in the past and even currently, has had so many legends of the sport industry walking around it as well.

Here I am on the field in Tiger Stadium
Inside the PMAC (Pete Maravich Assembly Center)
Pete Maravich Tribute
Women’s Basketball Practice Space

After our visit to LSU, my group and I were able to go into the city and go to the Super Bowl Experience as fans. Some of the other students had shifts working at the airport volunteering with the Host Committee, but the rest of us took time to do homework and explore the city. While we were walking to the entrance of the convention center from our parking lot, we happened to meet Kylie Kelce! This was so exciting to me, as I have become a fan of hers in the last year or so. She was so nice, and definitely the best “celebrity” encounter I have ever had, not that I have had too many though. While exploring the event for ourselves, we were able to see Micah Parsons (Dallas Cowboys) and Drake Maye (New England Patriots) playing pickleball. This was a really cool activation put on by the sporting equipment brand Franklin, and their owners.

Meeting Kylie Kelce
Drake Maye
Micah Parsons

Day 5: The Lombardi Trophy

On Friday, we had another shift at the Super Bowl Experience. This time, I worked the Lombardi Trophy area. This was one of my favorite things I did the whole trip. It was so surreal to be around the trophy and seeing fans interact and take pictures with it. The Lombardi Trophy is such an iconic symbol of the Super Bowl and the empire that the NFL has built.

Up close shot of the trophy
Posing with the trophy

Day 6: Our Last Super Bowl Experience Shift

After a long shift being at the Lombardi Trophy’s best friend, we went back to the hotel and got some much needed rest before some free time and then another shift at the Super Bowl Experience. This day, I worked some of the pickle ball events I mentioned earlier. I was not able to take any pictures this day, so I don’t have anything to show for that part of my shift. Halfway through working pickleball, I got moved to a different station where I was working another photo opportunity. This was hands down my favorite thing I worked at the Super Bowl Experience. It was a big SBLIX logo that fans were able to sit or stand on, and take pictures with. It was amazing because I got to connect and talk to so many people. I was able to speak with locals, who thought I had an accent, but also people from all over the country (and the world!) who just shared the love of football.

Day 7: Super Bowl Sunday

After losing my voice and a good night’s sleep, we were off to the game day shift! Our day started bright and early when we had to go to our parking and credential pickup site. All of the credential pickups we did throughout the week were so high tech in terms of facial recognition. It felt like I was in some sort of other reality. We were then shuttled into downtown New Orleans, where our staffing hosts fed us brunch and gave us training reminders for our upcoming shift.

After our bellies were full of delicious local food, we were sent out for our shift. I was stationed on Poydras Drive, which was one of the main entrances into the stadium. My job was helping people with directions and just answering general questions. There were several different tailgate groups that either came with tickets or were a premium, so we had to help guide patrons to those events. One of my favorite things from this time was starting famous E-A-G-L-E-S chants with Eagles fans. Some of the other BGSU people were stationed with me, so we were trying to count all of the NFL teams’ jerseys we saw walking into the game. We did end up seeing all 32 teams represented!

A few hours into our shift, things got cut short due to weather and safety concerns. We had to go back into our home base for our staffing hosts, but were able to watch the game together as a big group of volunteers. After things cleared up, we were able to take pictures in front of the Super Dome just before halftime.

Day 8: Tulane University and Seafood Boil

Monday morning, we had a visit at Tulane University and their athletic department. Tulane had such a cool campus since it is right in the heart of New Orleans. We were able to meet with some of their operations staff and see some of their facilities. The Chiefs had actually practiced on their iconic blue turf football field before the game, so everything was being torn down due to the extra security measures put in place. The Chiefs also requested to practice on real grass, so they had to put a floor down over the blue turf and then put all the pieces down for it to be a grass field.

Turchin Stadium for Tulane Baseball
Some of their trophies and jersey combinations
Removing the grass field

Later that day, we returned to the hotel to start to pack up and rest before our travels home. To round off our time in NOLA, we decided to get a seafood boil. This was one of my favorite things I ate the whole trip. We got a standard boil, but got calamari, frog legs, oysters, and hush puppies on the side.

Digging in
The group enjoying our food

Day 9: Travels Home and Last Thoughts

Our last day we woke up, packed up our hotel rooms, and headed off to the airport. After a long day of travel, we landed back in Detroit around 10pm Tuesday night. Overall, I had a great time getting to experience such a great city. Working Super Bowl LIX is something I will never forget, and it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. I learned so much, and I will cherish these memories and knowledge forever. I am so thankful to BGSU and the Sport Management Alliance for making this experience possible for me! I will cherish it forever!

Just before landing in Detroit

Super Bowl LVIII Results in OT win for Kansas City

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Chiefs' Steve Spagnuolo makes coordinator history with 4th Super Bowl win

By: Nick Sadowy

Nick Sadowy is from Toledo OH, and is a Bowling Green State University student majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Journalism. Nick has a passion for sports and writing about sports.

February 14, 2024

OVERVIEW

The 2023-2024 NFL season comes to an end with the Kansas City Chiefs edging out a victory over the San Francisco 49ers with a final score of 25-22. This game had a very slow start with a 0-0 score at the end of the 1st quarter but had an exciting finish with the final play happening in the final seconds of overtime.

Chiefs

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Travis Kelce (R) vents to Coach Andy Reid (L)

Kansas City wins back-to-back Super Bowls and their 3rd Super Bowl in 5 years. This win cements them as a dynasty led by their superstar Quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Early on in the game, the Chiefs struggled heavily, barely able to get a first down. Star tight end Travis Kelce had one catch for only one yard, basically getting shut down the whole first half. He took out his frustrations on head coach Andy Reid yelling at him in frustration to get himself more involved in the big game. Coach Reid seemed to game plan more around Kelce in the second half leading to Travis’ to finish with 9 catches and 93 yards, which were a big factor in the Chief’s victory.

49ers

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Dre Greenlaw’s injury came with 9:26 left in the 2nd quarter

The San Francisco 49ers once again lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the 2nd time in 5 years. The 49ers seemed to have the worst luck with injuries in prior seasons just trying to get to the Super Bowl, and that same luck followed them into this game. Star linebacker Dre Greenlaw tore Achilles just from running onto the field to play defense. Greenlaw was one of the 49er’s best defenders this season and was a key member of the 49er’s defense.

The Niner’s offense seemed to struggle for the most part all game, only scoring 2 touchdowns in the entire game. The main playmakers for the 49ers got shut down for most of the game, with Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk essentially being nonfactors for a combined total yards of 94. The only weapons that the 49ers utilized were the NFL’s offensive player of the year Christian McCaffrey and the unlikely use of Jauan Jennings. These two had the only 49ers’ touchdowns and had a total of 202 all-purpose yards.

2nd Half and Overtime

The 2nd half and Overtime of the Super Bowl is really where the game picked up from the entertainment factor. Most of the scoring occurred in both the second half and overtime. This was only the 2nd time in NFL history that the Super Bowl has gone to overtime and the first time ever that it implemented the new overtime rules where both teams have an opportunity to score a touchdown.

Image result for hardman game winner td

Mecole Hardman scores winning TD pass in OT victory for Chiefs

The 2nd half ended with a score of 19-19 which allowed the game to continue into overtime. The 49ers only ended with a field goal which made the score 22-19. This gave Kansas City an opportunity to score a touchdown and win the game. This is exactly what happened, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs down the field to score a touchdown to Meccole Hardman to make the final score 25-22, making Kansas City 3-time champions in the Mahomes era.

Conclusion

Super Bowl LVIII started off as a game that could have been forgettable but turned out to be quite the opposite. This Super Bowl had one of the most exciting finishes in NFL history. Most likely we will be seeing Kansas City in the future as they try to go for a three peat. However, we may see the San Francisco 49ers sooner rather than later because of the talent on their roster.

Super Bowl LVIII Preview

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By Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own raps for the music industry club at BGSU.

February 6, 2024

Overview

The 2023-2024 NFL season has been one filled with many intriguing storylines and surprises. Many teams that were predicted to be good this season have fallen short with season-ending quarterback injuries (Jets, Vikings, Bengals). Other teams had surprise playoff success with emerging stars, such as the Rams with rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua and the Texans with rookie quarterback C.J Stroud. Heading into the playoffs this season it felt like many teams had a realistic shot to make a deep run or possibly win it all.

AFC Playoff Storyline

In the AFC, two contenders with promising regular seasons, the Dolphins and Browns, collapsed in their losses in the AFC playoffs. Both games were similar, the Browns and Dolphins kept it close in the first halves, but then couldn’t stop the opposing offenses from scoring in the second half. With the Bills convincingly beating the 7-seeded Steelers, and the Ravens having a bye for being the top seed, the divisional round was set with the 4 AFC divisional winners.

The Ravens were in a tie game with Houston before shutting them out in the second half and eventually winning 34-10, ending C.J Stroud‘s impressive rookie campaign. Meanwhile, despite playing so well against Pittsburgh, Buffalo was once again eliminated from Super Bowl contention by Kansas City for the third time in the last four seasons, losing in a nail-biter 27-23.

In the AFC Championship game, Baltimore played defense as well as they could play against Kansas City’s offense, holding them to just 17 points. However, it was shockingly their offense that cost Baltimore the game as they ran the ball just 7 times all game and Lamar Jackson threw three interceptions, including one into triple coverage in the red zone. The final score was Kansas City: 17, Baltimore: 10, sending Kansas City to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.

NFC Playoff Storyline

In the NFC, two teams that had a chance in the playoffs but had disappointing ends to their seasons were the NFC East playoff representatives, the Eagles, and the Cowboys. The Eagles started the season with a hot 10-1 record before losing to the eventual NFC champion 49’ers. After that 42-19 loss, the Eagles ended the season losing 6 of their last 7, including a 32-9 upset blowout loss to Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers in the first round. Meanwhile, the Cowboys won 7 of their last 9 games before losing to the 7-seeded Packers in the first round, 48-32.

With these two contenders eliminated, the Detroit Lions continued their improbable season with victories over the Rams and Buccaneers to reach the NFC Championship game. However, the 1-seeded 49’ers ended up rising to the occasion with two huge second halves in their come-from-behind wins against both young teams that overachieved expectations this season, the Packers and Lions.

The 49’ers winning the NFC means a 2020 Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs. Two of the biggest storylines of the season (Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship and Brock Purdy’s continued underdog story) will be going head-to-head in the media world. On the field, the matchup should be even more intriguing with each team having many strengths and weaknesses that I discuss next.

AFC Champion: Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City quarterback, Patrick Mahomes

Strengths

The Chiefs are going into this Super Bowl with a newfound confidence that they haven’t had all season. Their offense has been rolling in these playoffs, scoring an improved 23.3 PPG, but it’s their defense that has been their biggest strength in the playoffs and throughout the year. In the playoffs, the defense has given up just 13.3 PPG and only 4 touchdowns in three games. The front seven of Kansas City’s defense has been specifically good at pass rushes, which is what they must continue to be good at in the Super Bowl if they want to have success against Brock Purdy and his plethora of skill players.

Patrick Mahomes is obviously another strength for the Chiefs; not only because of his accuracy and ability to make clutch plays, but also because of the Super Bowl experience that he has under his belt. Mahomes’ connection to Travis Kelce will also be a strength for the Chiefs. Kelce and Mahomes have tremendous chemistry and have now connected for more playoff touchdowns than any other duo in NFL history, including 49’ers’ greats Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.

Weaknesses

On the other hand, Kansas City dropped to the third seed this season for a few reasons, which will be the same weaknesses that they need to address and overcome in this Super Bowl matchup: dropped passes from wide receivers and penalties. The dropped passes by the wide receivers have been an enormous problem this season for the Chiefs. It hasn’t been just one receiver either that has been responsible for this problem but almost the entire depth chart besides rookie Rashee Rice. Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore, and even Travis Kelce have had problems hanging on to the football this year. This problem has resulted in a league- high 44 dropped passes compared to their opponent, the 49’ers, who coincidentally have the league’s fewest dropped passes with 9.

The penalties are also a big problem that the Chiefs need to control in the Super Bowl. Usually a very disciplined team under head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs rank 2nd, only behind Dallas, in offensive holding calls, and 8th in pass interference penalties. These are two big areas that they need to clean up before going up against an already potent defensive line and wide receiving core.

NFC Champion: San Francisco 49’ers

San Francisco quarterback, Brock Purdy

Strengths

The 49’ers’ biggest strengths are their receiving core, their rushing attack, and their pass rush. First, the 49’ers receiving core has been absolutely lethal this season with Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and Deebo Samuel each eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark. Furthermore, Christian McCaffrey’s dominance as a pass catcher allowed the 49’ers to become the first team in NFL history with a running back, two wideouts, and a tight end to each have over 1,000 scrimmage yards. Brock Purdy has also improved throughout the season as an accurate passer, often threading the needle to a variety of receivers in tight coverage situations which has helped the receiving core gain confidence.

The rushing attack of San Francisco will also be a challenge for Kansas City as McCaffrey was the league’s leading rusher this season, and as mentioned earlier, is also a lethal weapon to catch the ball out of the backfield. Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s run-pass-option style of offense has also benefitted the run game behind blockers, all-pro Left tackle Trent Williams, and receivers Jauan Jennings and George Kittle.

Lastly, the pass rush of the 49’ers’ front seven has been one of the best in the league all season. Bosa and Young have teamed up to make a dynamic duo setting the edge, while Hargrave and Armstead have returned from injury good as new and have stepped up in the playoffs by stuffing the run game. This is going to be a key component in the Super Bowl matchup as the Chief’s ability to balance the offense with running back Isiah Pacheco has been one of the reasons their offense has sprung back to life over the last month and a half. Along with this pro-bowl caliber D-Line, linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner have had fantastic seasons both in pass coverage and rushing the quarterback, and both will be needed in this matchup to spy on Patrick Mahomes’ running ability.

Weaknesses

Despite the abundance of weapons San Francisco has, they have two main weaknesses that could prove to be their downfall if they don’t fix them before the Super Bowl. Their first weakness is their reduced production in the secondary, particularly from the safety position. With second-year pro-bowl Strong Safety Talanoa Hufanga out for the season, the 49’ers have had to come up with mix-match solutions all year. Rookie Ji-Ayir Brown, Isiah Oliver, Ambry Thomas, and even formerly retired Logan Ryan have stepped in to fill the role. What has resulted from this has been inconsistent play over the middle of the field and plenty of big yardage catches in zone coverage. This was particularly the case in the last two wins against the Lions and Packers where Jared Goff and Jordan Love exposed the 49’ers secondary for easy touchdowns in the first halves. If the 49’ers don’t fix this problem it will be difficult to beat the Chiefs who have been exposing defenses over the middle of the field with Kelce and Rice.

The second major weakness of the 49’ers is their kicking game. Rookie kicker Jake Moody has had an up-and-down season with an 84% regular season field goal percentage, which ranks 24th in the NFL. He also has a missed field goal in each postseason game. Overall, the inconsistency and inexperience compared to their past kicker, veteran Robbie Gould, and Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker, is an issue if they have to rely on kicking down the stretch of the Super Bowl.

Conclusion

In my opinion, because the 49’ers and Chiefs both have balanced and deep rosters on both sides of the ball, this Super Bowl will come down to which team makes the fewest mistakes with their biggest weaknesses. If Mahomes and the Chiefs can expose the 49’ers secondary and limit their dropped passes then I believe they can definitely win this game. However, the 49’ers could just as easily win if they tighten up their zone coverage over the middle of the field and take advantage of Chiefs’ penalties which have been a problem for them all season.