KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ With two minutes left in the game, Kansas City Chiefs fan Thomas Gaye began jumping back and forth in excitement.
"I love this!" shouted Gaye, 24, of Kansas City, surrounded by more than 150 other Chiefs devotees Sunday at the downtown Power & Light District. "I love this, baby!"
When the clock hit zero, securing the Chiefs' AFC Championship win over the Tennessee Titans, fans in a sea of red and yellow erupted in celebration _ a party 50 years in the making.
"Let's go Chiefs!" the crowd cheered. "Let's go Chiefs!"
Some fans spilled into Rally House to buy merchandise after the game, creating a line at one point of at least 50 people to get their hands on AFC Championship gear, said acting store manager Gabrielle Smith, 27. The store plans to soon have more gear, including pint glasses. It has hired more employees in preparation for the championship.
Smith called the fans' exhilaration "surreal."
"You can definitely feel the fans," she said.
As Smith described the excitement, a woman leaving the store hollered: "Hey ya'll, how about those Chiefs?"
The question was followed by a cheer from others inside.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted a photo of himself covered in confetti.
"WE'RE GOING TO MIAMI," the message read.
