KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ He brought a sleeping bag and a sock hat, his security for a 21-degree night. The windchill fell to 17, but not cold enough to even considering leaving his spot.
For more than 10 hours, he reserved his place just outside the front door of a Dick's Sporting Goods store in Lenexa. Same as he'd done the night before. Same as he'd do the next night.
The reward? A couple of autographs.
Shane Barnes, a 35-year-old self-described diehard Chiefs fan, is among the many who braved the elements this week simply to meet a few of the Super Bowl champions. To get their signatures on a football. To say hello. To say thank you.
He secured the front of the line for Frank Clark on Sunday, for Chris Jones on Monday night and for Tyrann Mathieu on Tuesday. Slept overnight on the sidewalk at each location.
"Wait, he did what?" Jones replied when told of the story. "That's crazy, man."
Yet the new norm. For now, at least.
More than a week after winning Super Bowl LIV, the franchise's first championship in 50 years, Chiefs players have watched their popularity soar in this city. From people filling parking garages to wave at them during a downtown parade. To standing ovations as they walk inside restaurants. To fans bringing a sleeping bag to an autograph session.
"We got the city turnt," Clark said. "And it's dope to see.
"In a city like Kansas City, where they talk so bad about a forgotten city in the middle of the country (that's) not a tourist city. But there's so much pride. The community and the love that you get here _ I immediately felt it when I came here."
It's at a new level now.
Twenty-six fans spent the night at the Zona Rosa Dick's Sporting Goods location on Monday evening into Tuesday morning, forming the front of the line for Mathieu. Only the first 225 fans would receive bracelets, guaranteeing them his autograph on one item of their choice. If time remained in the 90-minute session after those with bracelets made it through the the line, the players would work their way through an overflow crowd.
But that was no certainty.
"See this line?" Barnes said. "You gotta get here early if you want these signatures."
As the store opened, the herd of people moved inside. Out of the cold. Into the heated two-story stores.
Before Mathieu emerged from a back doorway, dozens already had their camera phones out, as if he was walking a red carpet. They replied with cheers as he made his way into the room.
"To see the fans' reactions, it's truly been a blessing," Mathieu said. "They've been amazing everywhere we go."
After waits that spanned at least 24 hours in some cases, the fans took opportunities to get in a handshake or a brief conversation.
"Thank you for not lining up offside," one said to Clark, who received a rousing ovation as he entered the store and made his way downstairs to his table.
"Thanks for bringing it home," another said to Jones, who replied, "We got more in us."
"You better be back in Kansas City," several others said to Jones in some form, to which he responded, "That's the plan."
As he saw the surge of fans waiting to seek his signature on helmets, footballs, posters and pictures, Clark said, "I don't want to catch my breath yet. I'm still taking it all in."
Hours earlier, the work for 2020 had begun. Clark had his first workout of the offseason earlier that day. Jones had already started watching film of each of his snaps, looking for ways to improve.
But for 90 minutes, fans offered a reminder of what they had achieved over the previous weeks and months.
By sleeping outside just to see them.
"I don't have a lot of brain cells left," Barnes quipped.
Worth it, though?
"Of course, man."
