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Kansas City held a parade to celebrate the Super Bowl win

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

It's a big day in Kansas City, where scores of fans turned out to celebrate their team's win in the Super Bowl.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MITCH HOLTHUS: For the second time in four seasons, there is a red-and-gold reflection on the Lombardi Trophy - a big red reflection. Your champions, Super Bowl LVII, the Kansas City Chiefs.

CHANG: Frank Morris of member station KCUR was in the thick of the victory parade.

(CHEERING)

FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE: The middle of downtown Kansas City was jammed today, and just about everyone was wearing red. Mindy Jacoby (ph) is here dressed for bed.

Are those pajamas?

MINDY JACOBY: Yes, and they're warm. And they're fuzzy, and they're amazing.

MORRIS: So what brings you out here in your pajamas?

JACOBY: The Chiefs (laughter).

MORRIS: Nearby, Nicole Moore (ph) stands out in sparkly earmuffs, lots of red and Chiefs spelled out in big, shiny gold letters on her shirt.

NICOLE MOORE: Yeah. Yeah. I wanted the bling. I want to be seen. I want it to reflect, you know?

MORRIS: Like everybody here, Moore has a favorite player. Hers is tight end Travis Kelce.

MOORE: I love Kelce all day - Kelce. I love Mahomes, but I'm a Kelce fan.

MORRIS: Mahomes, of course, is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and NFL most valuable player Patrick Mahomes. And he's, you know, pretty popular around here.

DAMANI WHITE: I love Patrick Mahomes. Yeah, he, like, an inspiration to me. Yeah, I love it. I just love him.

MORRIS: Eight-year-old Damani White (ph) is here with a football hoping for an autograph. Paula Villavicencio (ph) also idolizes Mahomes.

PAULA VILLAVICENCIO: Patrick Mahomes, I feel like, meets everything - for his generosity, too. Like, on the field, he's really uplifting to the team and, like - yet, like, then brings so much inspiration to, like, everyone else who sees that.

MORRIS: Mahomes isn't just a fantastic athlete. He plays through pain and ekes out the most amazing plays and white-knuckle wins. He's also, by all accounts, a very decent guy, one who's bought a stake in all three of Kansas City's other professional sports teams. And just like that, the hero of Kansas City walks by...

SETH NAVARRO: That's Mahomes, baby. Wow, Mahomes.

MORRIS: ...Goggles on, looking very loose and groovy.

NAVARRO: Oh, my gosh, I saw Mahomes. Yeah, I saw Mahomes. I wanted to touch Mahomes is what I wanted to do.

MORRIS: Seth Navarro (ph), wearing a Chiefs jersey with Mahomes' number 15 on it and a hefty bunch of red-and-gold Mardi Gras beads, says Mahomes is a game changer.

What do you think he means for the city?

NAVARRO: Hope - hope and just the fact that we actually matter. Like, Kansas City's on the maps.

(CHEERING)

NAVARRO: I mean, we're, like, the center of the NFL world right now. So, like, yeah, he just brought - he brought us hope. He brought us meaning. He brought us purpose.

MORRIS: And lots of people think Patrick Mahomes is going to bring Kansas City a few more Super Bowl victories.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris in Kansas City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Frank Morris has supervised the reporters in KCUR's newsroom since 1999. In addition to his managerial duties, Morris files regularly with National Public Radio. He’s covered everything from tornadoes to tax law for the network, in stories spanning eight states. His work has won dozens of awards, including four national Public Radio News Directors awards (PRNDIs) and several regional Edward R. Murrow awards. In 2012 he was honored to be named "Journalist of the Year" by the Heart of America Press Club.