They sat under the same roof on Saturday, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and baseball Hall of Fame George Brett, watching Kansas defeat Villanova in a men's basketball showdown at Allen Fieldhouse.
Both were introduced to rousing ovations, perhaps a little louder for Mahomes, who has helped guide the Chiefs to a 11-3 record and is leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns.
But Brett has something no other major-league athlete who has suited up for Kansas City does.
An MVP award.
In fact, that's the only MVP award won by a Kansas City athlete among the traditional four major North American sports leagues: the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL.
The Chiefs are playing their 56th season. When the first pitch is thrown in 2019, the Royals will open their 51st year.
Add 13 seasons of the NBA's Kings, including the first three when the team shared a hyphen with Omaha, another unlucky 13 of the old Kansas City A's, and two more for the hapless Scouts of the NHL, and that's 133 completed seasons of Kansas City major league sports.
It should be noted that two Kansas City soccer players have been named MVP in Major League Soccer: Preki in 1997 and 2003 and goalkeeper Tony Meola in 2000, leading the then-Wizards to the MLS Cup.
But only Brett's 1980 season that captivated the sports world with his chase for a .400 batting average was recognized as the best in baseball. Brett finished at .390, leading the American League in average, on-base percentage (.454) and slugging (.664). He won the AL MVP by a comfortable margin and in 1999 was enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame.
This city loves its team titles, but isn't Kansas City a little overdue for some individual accolades?
MVP talk involving Mahomes has been bubbling for a few weeks, but not around the Chiefs, who play at Seattle on Sunday. Andy Reid was asked about it a few weeks ago.
"Oh boy, I'm not very good with all that (honors) stuff," he said.
Mahomes' numbers are MVP worthy. His 45 touchdown passes tie for sixth all-time for a season. He'll likely set the Chiefs record for passing yards in a season in the next game.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt wasn't asked specifically about MVP chances but provided an endorsement.
"In so many ways, he's exceeded our expectations," Hunt said. "When you have a guy like Patrick under center you have a chance to win every game."
With the Chiefs' gut-wrenching loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last week on Thursday Night Football, the MVP chances for Mahomes took a little hit from the oddmakers.
Entering last weekend's game, Bovada listed Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Mahomes in basically a dead heat. But Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is in third and gaining after his Thursday performance that included two touchdowns in the final four minutes and the game-winning two-point conversion at Arrowhead Stadium.
How difficult is it to win the NFL's MVP, as voted on by The Associated Press and based on the regular season? Rivers hasn't won it. Neither has Brees, nor Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. All are having outstanding seasons and each has a shot this year.
The Chiefs, with some of the best players at their positions in NFL history, have delivered some outstanding individual performances.
Four times Hall of Famer Len Dawson led the AFL in passing. Priest Holmes set an NFL record for touchdowns in a season.
Chiefs running back Abner Haynes was named AFL player of the year by two outlets in 1960, and Dawson was dubbed the AFL player of the year by The Sporting News in 1962, both honors when the team was in Dallas. Holmes was named AFC offensive player of the year in 2002. The Associated Press MVP _ the honor recognized by the NFL in its record book _ that season was Raiders (and former Chiefs) quarterback Rich Gannon.
If Tony Gonzalez and Johnny Robinson get voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at the Super Bowl as expected, the Chiefs will have 10 players in the Hall who spent the majority of their careers in Kansas City uniforms. They've won a handful of individual honors, but never the biggest one.
How does this compare to other cities? Let's take the two with major-league teams closest to Kansas City.
In the last 20 years, St. Louis has celebrated six such honors, three by the Cardinals' Albert Pujols and three by the Rams, two for quarterback Kurt Warner and one for running back Marshall Faulk.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, in its 11-year existence, has had two NBA MVPs: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Not even Nate "Tiny" Arichbald, who became the only player to lead the NBA in scoring and assists in a season, could win the NBA MVP in the Kings' first year in Kansas City, 1972-73. He finished third in the voting.
Mahomes, in his first year as a starter, would seem to have many seasons ahead to contend for the award. But there is no guarantee that his future seasons will be as productive as this one.
A strong finish this season, maybe helping the Chiefs to a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, could help seal the deal.
