Growing up on a little lake, a kid learns how to swim, catch a fish and row a boat. It's even better when that little lake is practically next door to Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Super Bowl bound Kansas City Chiefs.
I'll be as pumped up as the players when the big game starts Sunday. My folks took us on some great camping vacations every summer. In the fall, they took my two brothers and me to watch the Chiefs every home-game Sunday.
Growing up in KC, cheering for the Chiefs is part of your DNA, as much as rooting for the Razorbacks is for card-carrying Arkansans, Arkansawyers, whichever term you like.
Chiefs fans don't come more dedicated than my parents, the late Mike and Jean Putthoff. My folks, two brothers and I lived at Lake Tapawingo, east of Kansas City, about the size of Lake Fayetteville. It's close enough to Arrowhead Stadium you could hit the Jumbotron with a football if you've got an arm like Patrick Mahomes.
I can find my way around Arrowhead Stadium blindfolded, but my family started going to Chiefs games in the 1960s at the old Municipal Stadium in downtown KC. Dad would park our station wagon on the street. He was barely out of the car when a couple of the local kids would run up and say they'd watch our car during the game for a quarter apiece. Dad would smile and pay the boys.
This was back in the day when Len Dawson, Mike Garrett, Ed Budde, Otis Taylor, Buck Buchanan and crew were big stars for the Chiefs. We couldn't wait to see our heroes take the natural grass field in their red jerseys and sparkling white pants, soon to get caked with mud.
I think mom's and dad's tickets on the 45 yard line were about $6 each. My brothers and I were in the Huddle Club so our tickets were $1 each.
The Huddle Club was kind of a baby-sitting service for the season ticket parents. We Huddle Club kids all sat together in a far corner of the stadium in our official Huddle Club jerseys. Parents sat in in the good seats, far away from their little darlings.
When the Chiefs played the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I on Jan. 15, 1967, my brothers, a bunch of neighbor kids and I were sled riding in our back yard. We'd fly down the hill then out onto the thick lake ice. At game time, all the parents came over to our house to watch the game.
It was pretty much the same scene when the Chiefs beat the mighty Minnesota Vikings to win Super Bowl IV in 1970. Our house was the gathering place, where everybody came for a good time. All the neighbors were there to bask in the victory. Who'd of thought it'd be 50 years before our team played on Super Bowl Sunday again.
Our family loved to camp and spent many a family vacation snoozing in a heavy canvas tent. One year my dad, Mr. Handyman, bought a full-sized van and converted it into a comfy camper. It even had a restroom, at the suggestion of my mom, I'll wager.
We'd camp and fish all over the country, mostly out West. My folks would sleep in the van and we boys slept in a tent close by. One summer we saw the Pacific Ocean, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and made a beeline for Los Angeles. That's because the Chiefs were playing the Rams in a preseason game that Saturday at the L.A. Coliseum. In the glove box, my dad had stashed five tickets to the game, the only time I've seen the Chiefs on the road.
When the Chiefs moved to Arrowhead Stadium in 1972, that van made a fine tailgating rig on game day. My folks would load up a bunch of their friends and drive 20 minutes to the stadium. By now I'd started high school and had other interests, but still went to plenty of games. After each contest there'd be 77,000 Chiefs fans all hoarse from yelling, doing our part to be the 12th man.
My parents' friends were happy to pitch in with food for the tailgate party, but my mom did most of the work. She fixed sandwiches, made sure there was plenty of ice, mustard, ketchup and took care of a million details.
Then came the Sunday morning when mom looked at my dad. "Do we have to go to the game?" Right then he wisely knew it was time to give up those season tickets.
After that they never missed watching the Chiefs together at home on TV, sitting side by side in their cushy rockers, until my mom passed away. Dad soon followed.
I still make it to a game or two some seasons, including last year's heartbreaking AFC championship game. That frigid windy day grew even colder when the Patriots beat the Chiefs in overtime. I sunk into my seat at silent Arrowhead Stadium.
This season we won that AFC championship game, whipping the Tennessee Titans. We're over the hump now and on to the Super Bowl.
I think my folks would join me in wishing good luck to the 49ers, but not too much luck. Heck, San Francisco has played in five Super Bowls and won them all. That's a scary thought.
Bring on the game. We Chiefs fans are ready to be the 12th man, even if watching on TV.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at fputthoff@nwadg.com, but not during the Super Bowl.
Sports on 01/28/2020