Gracie Hunt will remember that moment.
With the two-minute warning approaching and Kansas City up by seven against the Ravens in the AFC Championship game in Baltimore, the daughter of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt was “overwhelmed with joy and excitement” when quarterback Patrick Mahomes connected with wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a deep pass that punched a return ticket to the Super Bowl for the defending champions.
“It pretty much sealed the deal,” the 24-year-old Hunt recalled in a recent interview with The Post, “we went crazy.”
Mahomes then took a knee to secure the 17-10 victory for the Chiefs, setting the stage for a Super Bowl 2024 showdown in Las Vegas against the 49ers, whom Kansas City took down four years prior.
Unlike last year, when the Chiefs clinched a Super Bowl berth in front of the hometown Arrowhead Stadium crowd, the Kingdom traveled east for the divisional and championship rounds of the playoffs, knocking off the Bills and Ravens, respectively, as road warriors in the hopes of sealing a second consecutive championship.
“We were the underdog in two very difficult road games against great quarterbacks and teams,” Hunt said of the Bills’ Josh Allen and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson. “We’re just so proud of this team and their perseverance and determination.”
The road back to Super Bowl glory hasn’t been easy for the Chiefs, as the offense struggled during the regular season between crucial drops and game-deciding penalties.
But with Mahomes and one of his favorite targets, tight end Travis Kelce, firing on all cylinders this postseason — the duo surpassed Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski for most playoff touchdowns by a quarterback-pass catcher combo (16) in the Chiefs’ 27-24 win over Buffalo on Jan. 21 — Hunt is cherishing this “special” time for the franchise.
“We know how special this Chiefs era is so we make a point to soak up every moment,” she said. “It’s such a difficult journey to reach the AFC Championship game, let alone to win it on the road as underdogs and then earn the right to go back to the Super Bowl, and I just feel so blessed to have so many joyful memories.”
Watching pop superstar Taylor Swift become the newest member of Chiefs Kingdom has been one of the fondest moments of the season for Hunt.
“Growing up a fan of Taylor, it’s been beyond exciting to have her attend games and watch her joy and fun cheering on Travis and the Chiefs, the team that I’ve grown up loving and cheering for my whole life,” said Hunt, who shared a photo with Swift, 34, from Arrowhead Stadium in December.
Swift, who has attended 12 Chiefs games this season to support boyfriend Kelce, is expected to touch down in Las Vegas following her fourth Eras Tour concert in Tokyo, the final of which is scheduled the day before the Super Bowl.
Given the 17-hour time difference, Swift — who has been dating Kelce, 34, since the summer — will have time to recoup before kickoff Sunday at 3:30 p.m. PT.
“I know she has a very arduous journey coming from her concert that she performs right before the Super Bowl, I certainly do hope that our paths will cross,” Hunt said.
With a Super Bowl repeat within reach for the Chiefs, a championship victory would be especially meaningful for the Hunt family, who lost matriarch Norma Hunt, the wife of late Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, in June at the age of 85.
Hunt watched the Chiefs defeat the Eagles in Super Bowl 2023 last February in Arizona with Norma, in what was her 57th Super Bowl.
“[The AFC Championship] win truly honored her and my grandfather’s legacy and we’ve missed her dearly this season,” Hunt said.
“I know she’s watching over us and her beloved Chiefs from heaven with my grandfather, Lamar, but I definitely teared up when Patrick said we were going to win this trophy [the Lamar Hunt Trophy, which is awarded to the AFC champions] with Norma Hunt’s name on our jersey.”
As this “wild, special, unexpected, joyful season” comes to a close, Hunt knows that hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in Norma’s honor a year after her Chiefs’ last Super Bowl win would be a full-circle moment for the family.
“To have the opportunity to go back and play means the world to all of us,” Hunt said.
The Chiefs and 49ers face off at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
