KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A playoff run for the Kansas City Chiefs might mean a new t-shirt for some fans or new jersey for others.
But for a few passionate fans, it also means new ink, a tattoo to make the moment special. One diehard member of Chiefs Kingdom dreams of achieving his latest, permanent goal.
Covered in ice, the Northland Fountain looks like a polar bear enclosure. It’s lone resident: 27-year-old Will Moran.
“[I’m a] big Chiefs fan, a big Patrick Mahomes fan. Ride or die,” Moran said.
He got a Mahomes tattoo the week before the first playoff game during the season the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.
“I knew he was something special, and I knew he was going to do it,” Moran said, at times unable to suppress his urge to cheer, hoot, and holler for the Chiefs.
His friend Kevin Schaeffler said he’s always like this, “the life of the party.”
“He just showed up one day, for me, and he had the tattoos. And he had this whole backstory behind them,” Schaeffler said.
He goes to every game — without his shirt on, something friends like Schaeffler think is pretty crazy.
“Honestly I had nosebleeds,” Moran said, describing his seats for the Chiefs-Steelers game last week. “But me and my friend came down [to the lower bowl] during early pre-game, and we just started hanging out down there.”
That’s where he got his latest idea.
“My ultimate goal, my next tattoo is to get Mahomes to sign it, ‘Patrick Mahomes.’ And then get a tattoo right over it,” Moran said.
It’s an admitted longshot. And, he repeats, he’s ride or die for the Chiefs whether it happens or — more likely — doesn’t.
“If I want to be the biggest fan there is or one of the biggest fans there is in the world, I feel like I have to put in the work. I have to put in actions. I have to do the crazy stuff that makes us crazy,” Moran said.
But to Moran, it’s like his Super Bowl, and he has his own fans.
“I think it’s realistic. I think it could happen. Yeah, I really do. If he believes it can happen, it can happen,” Schaeffler said.
Moran said he feels like some people judge him as he cheers on the Chiefs shirtless with his Mahomes tattoo.
“But honestly I don’t care. I am who I am,” he said. “People can either love me or hate me. And it is what it is.”
He’s a self-admitted goofball who can handle the cold on gameday.
“I ain’t going to lie. I had a few beers in me. But you just gotta do what you gotta do. You got to get crazy. You got to get loud. You gotta get pumped. You gotta go!” Moran said.
