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Montana to Mahomes: KC QBs fuel Chiefs excitement

Montana to Mahomes: KC QBs fuel Chiefs excitement
Posted at 9:43 AM, Oct 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-12 10:43:32-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Long before Patrick Mahomes mania swept over Kansas City, a man nicknamed Joe “cool” came to town.

The year was 1993. The quarterback who had won the Super Bowl four times was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

His name was Joe Montana. 

“Joe Montana was like a Beatle. People were chasing after his car chasing after our team bus,” former teammate Tim Grunhard said recently.

The San Francisco 49ers traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs after a long Hall of Fame career. His arrival sparked a fever in Kansas City that hadn’t been felt since the Super Bowl Championship in 1970. 

"I can still remember every helicopter in town was up to watch Lamar Hunt’s private jet land at the Downtown Airport. They all zoomed into Joe and his family. The camera got them all getting in their limos then they followed the entire motorcade from the downtown airport to Arrowhead,” longtime Kansas City sportscaster Frank Boal recalled. “At Arrowhead hundreds of photographers were waiting to shoot stills and video of Joe and his wife getting out of the limo and Carl Peterson getting out of his limo walking intro Arrowhead.”

Now, 25 years later, there is a new buzz around Kansas City’s new quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

It’s different than with Montana, who came in at the twilight of his career.

Patrick Mahomes is a second-year player that the Chiefs not only drafted but moved up to select him. 

“With Patrick Mahomes, I think there’s a hope that Patrick Mahomes can get this team back to that Super Bowl where they haven’t been for so long but with Joe Montana it was expected,” Boal said.