Thank you to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. If you're a fan of an out-of-town team and I haven't given you a questionnaire to fill out, please let me know ASAP, as I am looking to profile as many people as possible.
My sixth feature highlights another AFC West fan. My friend Mike Johnson has been a Chiefs fan for a while. He hasn't seen too much success in a while, but if my prediction of his team is right, he'll get to see a playoff team this season.
Here's a list of other blogs in the out-of-town feature series:
1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Tennessee Titans
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Minnesota Vikings
5. Denver Broncos
Mike Johnson was not all that different than yours truly back in the early 90s.
During that time, Joe Montana was slinging touchdown passes to fellow Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice en route to four Super Bowl titles together. Then, a southpaw named Steve Young came around, and 49ers brass decided that Young would be the future starting QB of the team.
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| Mike has been a fan of KC for almost 20 years. |
So instead of keeping him on the Niners and creating a distraction with Joe as a backup, the 49ers traded Montana to the Chiefs, a very unpopular move at the time in San Francisco. Along with Joe's team, Mike's rooting interest in the Niners was also traded to the Chiefs.
"I was a huge fan of Joe Montana growing up," Mike said. "So I was a 49ers fan and when he left there for Kansas City, I became a Chiefs fan and never looked back after he retired."
Mike has lived in the Chicago area for his entire 3+ decades of life, so he does retain a rooting interest in the Bears, except when they play against the Chiefs. When the Chiefs aren't on to watch (which is a common occurrence), he has no problem watching the Bears.
Fortunately, like many fans of out-of-town teams, technology has been very kind to Mike. His I-phone and I-Pad play a key role in keeping Mike in tune with the latest Chiefs news and updates.
"I wish they were on TV more," he said, "but I'm not a complainer."
His Sunday tradition of watching football over at his Grandma's will no longer be in effect this year due to her passing earlier in the year. He hopes he can adjust to a new routine for the 2012 season.
In the meantime, he retains confidence in the Chiefs, who won the AFC West in 2010 but were ravaged with injuries to start the 2011 season and were never able to get on track. Despite a late season charge, they fell short of repeating as division champs.
Mike believes that the Chiefs are the most complete team in the division and has faith that they will make the playoffs with an 11-5 record, win a Wild Card game but lose in the divisional round. He likes the structure of the team, highlighted by his current favorite player Jamaal Charles.
"He brings excitement to a dull offense," Mike said. "Hope he has a good season back after surgery last year."
He believes that Charles' bounce-back to an elite-level running back depends on how effective Matt Cassel and Dwayne Bowe will be.
"Passing attack should open up the running game," Mike said. "You add (Peyton) Hillis to the run game and it gives Charles a chance to not have to carry the ball all the time."
| Mike Johnson | |
| (whole life in Chicago) | |
| Favorite team | Chiefs |
| A fan since… | 1993 |
| # of games attended | none |
| Choice of Team Consumption | I-pad & I-phone |
| Favorite Player(s) All-Time | Joe Montana & Tony Gonzalez |
| Favorite Player Currently | Jamaal Charles |
| 2012 Prediction | (11-5, postseason appearance, advance to divisional round) |
| Vegas Projection for team | 8 |
| (as of 8-31-12) 5dimes.eu | |
| Over/under? | Over |
| Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu | (+330) |
| Super Bowl odds | 58/1 (+5800) |
| (as of 8-31-12) - 5dimes.eu |
