Local Chiefs super fan names pets after players

By Kyle Schmidt

One area woman assures she is not simply a Chiefs fan, she is a certified fanatic.

Maria Messer is a long-time Chiefs supporter who takes her fandom to the next level with her pets.

“I have a dog named Will Shields, my Shih Tzu,” Messer said. “I took my dog to meet Will Shields and he could not believe someone had named their dog after him until I showed him the name tag. And so he even took his phone out and took a picture of my dog, so my dog is in Will Shields’ phone somewhere up in iCloud. It was so cool meeting him and he could not believe someone loved the team enough to name their animal after him.”

But Her Shih Tzu is not the only animal of hers named after a Chief.

Messer has cats named Travis Kelce, Pacheco, Patrick Mahomes and one named Sammy Parker, who recently passed away. One of her dogs has a themed name that she says only real fans would understand.

“We have a great Pyrenees, her name is Skye,” Messer said. Our Pyrenees is a girl. Patrick Mahomes’ daughter is Sterling Skye Mahomes. And so I named her Skye after his daughter’s middle name.”

It’s not just the pet names that cement Messer as a super fan. Messer also has a Chiefs tattoo on her arm, and her whole house is covered in Chiefs gear.

“I just have everything, everything I bought, everything I’ve collected,” Messer said. “I don’t have knickknacks, I have Chiefs stuff. That’s all you need. And I also have a new pair of shoes.”

Like most fans, Messer has some superstitions when it comes to her team.

“I could not put my shoes on. I have these shoes and I was going to put on my new ones, but I realized, ‘Wait a minute, I can’t do that because I wore these shoes last year on the Super Bowl and I put the new ones on,’” Messer said. “I don’t want to do it until after we win on Sunday.”

The fan of nearly 40 years has been through the ups and downs with the team, but regardless, she loves them.

“Whether you win, I love you, whether you lose. If you’re 2-15 or 15-2, I love you,” Messer said. “I will always be there.”

Messer recognized that some people will hate on the Chiefs, but she doesn’t mind. She’s sticking by their side.

“We love the people that hate us. We love that you hate us,” Messer said. “This is Chiefs Kingdom. You can not like us, you can disrespect us. But as long as our team and Patrick Mahomes is healthy, you’re going to have to deal with Chiefs Kingdom.”