Inside the Chiefs' obsession with the Dallas Cowboys - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Well before he donned the Kansas City Chiefs' uniform, quarterback Patrick Mahomes thought he was pretty familiar with the franchise.

Mahomes grew up in Tyler, Texas, about 100 miles from Dallas, which led to him becoming a Cowboys fan in middle school, but he said he also loved watching some of the Chiefs' biggest stars — running backs Jamaal Charles and Priest Holmes, tight end Tony Gonzalez, receiver Dante Hall and linebacker Derrick Johnson.

«But I really didn't know the history of the Chiefs,» Mahomes said, «and how it started.»

A few months after Mahomes was drafted No. 10 by the Chiefs in 2017, the franchise held an introductory dinner for its rookie class. One person who spoke to the group was Clark Hunt, the club's owner and son of Lamar Hunt, the man who founded the franchise. A historical fact that astonished Mahomes that night was when Clark Hunt shared how the Chiefs didn't originate in Kansas City, but rather in Dallas.

«I didn't know anything about the Dallas Texans,» Mahomes said. «It was cool for me because the Hunts are obviously from Dallas and that's where I live in the offseasons. Even though I grew up a Cowboys fan, you get to be a part of something that has history in Dallas.»

That's why Thursday's game in Dallas against the Cowboys (4:30 p.m. ET, Fox) holds special significance for Hunt and the rest of the Chiefs organization. The stage — Thanksgiving afternoon in front of a national audience — is the latest reminder of how far the franchise has come since being formed in 1960 and how each team's history is intertwined. Lamar Hunt, who died in 2006, formed the Texans — and helped create the rival AFL — after the NFL denied him the opportunity, on multiple occasions, to bring an