DALLAS —
The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers are capping off the 100th season of the NFL with a Miami showdown in Super Bowl LIV Sunday evening at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
For Dallas Cowboys fans who are unsure of who to root for in the Big Game, the choice is clear cut: the Chiefs.
First off, the 49ers are tied with the Cowboys for the third-most Super Bowl wins in league history with five. If the Niners earn another, they will join the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers for the most of all-time. The Cowboys can't afford to be left behind in any more categories that define a franchise's legacy.
Who cares if former Dallas Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin is an offensive quality control coach? Ex-Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. playing for the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX didn't give Dallas fans extra incentive to root for San Francisco.
The most obvious connection between the Chiefs and the Cowboys is they once shared the Cotton Bowl from 1960-62 when Lamar Hunt's AFL franchise was known as the Dallas Texans. However, the reality is that they are no more connected than the New York Jets and the New York Giants. Plus, Hunt's franchise left town, even though he stayed in Dallas and helped cultivate a rich soccer fan base with FC Dallas.
Kansas City has three former Cowboys on their roster in cornerback Morris Claiborne and linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson.
Wilson and Hitchens were products of the Stephen Jones/Will McClay philosophy of drafting players good enough to produce on their rookie contracts and then talented enough to earn second contracts, even if they are elsewhere.
In the case of Hitchens and Wilson, they were both good enough that, so far, Hitchens has helped Dallas earn a compensatory pick. Wilson may help the Cowboys get a compensatory pick for 2020, which will be announced later in the offseason.
For Claiborne, landing with the Chiefs is his chance to give worth to a career that started out so promisingly as a 2012 first-round pick for Dallas. Yet, injuries derailed the LSU standout and he never was able to live up to the status that comes with being the first defensive player taken in the draft.
When the Cowboys didn't re-sign Claiborne in 2017, he spent two seasons with the New York Jets, and it seemed his prospects of ever playing in a postseason game were circling the drain. Now, the Shreveport, La., native – who grew up a huge Cowboys fan – has a chance to go down in history as a Super Bowl winner. He may have been a draft bust for Dallas, and he may never get a bust in Canton, but that distinction can never be robbed from Claiborne as injuries did to his Cowboys tenure.
Speaking of Chiefs players who grew up Cowboys fans, there was probably none bigger than quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who also was a big Tony Romo fan.
"Growing up in Texas, I was a big Dallas Cowboys fan, and my dad was a big Cowboys fan," Mahomes said in 2017 via the Dallas Morning News. "I watched Romo every week of the season for his whole career. He's a great quarterback, a guy who has a ton of comeback victories."
San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo may have broken Romo's records at Eastern Illinois, but Mahomes watched every game of the four-time Pro Bowler's career and never faltered in his devotion to No. 9.
Dallas fans will have to suffer through another interminable offseason to see if the roster and coaching staff under Mike McCarthy is good enough to challenge for a Super Bowl. Until then, they ought to take a look at the Chiefs as their team in Super Bowl LIV.
Will you be rooting for Mahomes’ Chiefs or are you able to stomach a Niners’ Super Bowl victory? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.
More on WFAA:
