Hard as it is to believe, the Kansas City Chiefs won't be great forever.
The Chiefs' dynasty is still full speed ahead, even with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl a couple months ago. With Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, Kansas City should be good for many years to come.
And that's why it's the right time to leverage their appeal into a more permanent, high-profile place in the NFL's schedule.
The Chiefs want to be the NFL's Christmas team. They have requested to be a staple on Christmas, according to a report by The Athletic.
It's a smart move. Because there will come a day in which the NFL won't want to feature the Chiefs in a prime television spot, but they'll likely be grandfathered in.
Chiefs following lead of Lions and Cowboys
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt knows his NFL history. He understands how the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys became irreplaceable parts of the NFL's Thanksgiving broadcasts.
In 1934, after the Detroit Lions had struggled with attendance the season before, the team scheduled a Thanksgiving game and convinced NBC Radio Network to broadcast it. That led to an annual tradition.
The Dallas Cowboys were next. Former Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm is credited with the idea of pushing the Cowboys as a second Thanksgiving team because it would give them exposure every season. The St. Louis Cardinals got the second game in 1975 and 1977, but the Cowboys being the second Thanksgiving game stuck for good in 1978. The Cowboys are now the most valuable franchise in the entire sporting world. That's not solely because of the Thanksgiving slot, but it hasn't hurt.
The NFL remained loyal to those teams helping build up Thanksgiving as a huge day for the league. The Cowboys have had some down seasons, but their spot on Thanksgiving was never in doubt. The Lions have been bad for most of their history. In 2008 and 2009, when the Lions went 2-30, there were loud calls to remove Detroit from Thanksgiving. The NFL ...
