Chiefs, 49ers primed for Super Bowl rematch
Fred Jeter | 2/1/2024, 6 p.m.
This year’s Super Bowl matchup features franchises with plenty of experience on football’s grandest stage.
Super Bowl LVIII will be a rematch of the 2020 game in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
The 49ers have been to seven Super Bowls, winning five; the Chiefs have been five times, winning three, including 2019 and 2022 under Coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
New England and Pittsburgh have the most Super Bowl rings — six each.
Many Richmonders became long-distance KC fans based on the 1969 Super Bowl in which the Chiefs, from the upstart American Football League (AFL), upset the favored Minnesota Vikings, 23-7.
KC’s 1969 edition came to be known as “Black America’s Team,” with some 20 players from HBCUs.
That list included three future Hall of Famers, Richmonder Willie Lanier, by way of Maggie Walker High and Morgan State; defensive lineman Buck Buchanan, out of Grambling; and defensive back Emmitt Thomas from Bishop College.
The Chiefs also played in the very first Super Bowl in 1966, falling to Green Bay, 35-10.
San Francisco’s Super Bowl success came mostly in the 1980s with quarterback Joe Montana and the NFL’s all-time receiver, Jerry Rice, out of Mississippi Valley State.
Super Bowl LVIII, Feb. 11, Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers, Allegiant Stadium, 6:30 p.m. ET, Las Vegas, CBS
