British actor Henry Cavill is a massive Kansas City Chiefs fan, but he’s not like the troves of fans who jumped on the bandwagon after Patrick Mahomes became the face of the league. The story of how he became a fan is much more fascinating.
Cavill recently joined “The Rich Eisen Show” to promote his upcoming film, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” During his chat with Eisen, he revealed the unique story behind his Chiefs fandom. The person he has to thank for his fandom?
None other than Superman’s alter ego, Clark J. Kent.
“I’m a fan of the Chiefs,” Cavill told Eisen. “Important to note, pre-Mahomes. Just so I’m not one of those Brits who came over and chose the best team.”
Even though the Chiefs didn’t get the win in the playoffs that year, the Arrowhead experience got the actor hooked on American football.
“It is as loud as they say,” Cavill exclaimed. “I loved it. I loved it.”
Then Patrick Mahomes would come along and suddenly his team started winning and the rest is history
He didn’t choose the best team, at least they weren’t the best team at the time he chose them. His reason behind the choice was almost a practice in character study for his role as Superman in the DC Comics films.
“Being over here, wanting to get into football,” Cavill continued. “Learning that I could enjoy the game because I initially thought it was just a bad version of rugby. And then I realized, it’s human chess, essentially. It’s nothing like rugby. I had to pick a team, and I thought, ‘What’s going to be a constant in my life?’ It was clearly Superman. And I thought, ‘Great, now who would Superman support?’ And even though the Chiefs — I often hear this — they say that they’re not in Kansas. They kind of are. They’re not, but they are. And that’s who Clark (Kent) would have supported and I figured, ‘It’s ideal. I’ll stick with the Chiefs.’ And then they started winning.”
Cavill is unafraid of igniting the Kansas-Missouri border war, after all, Kryptonite is the only thing that can hurt him. He told Eisen that he became a fan during the 2016 NFL season when Alex Smith led the Chiefs to consecutive playoff appearances for the first time since 1994. They lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round despite K.C. holding their opponent to field goals throughout the game.
“It was the year where we lost to Steelers in the playoffs because I was there,” Cavill said. “It was quite the spectacle as a Brit going over there, being down on the sidelines and everything.”
Even though the Chiefs didn’t get the win in the playoffs that year, the Arrowhead experience got the actor hooked on American football.
“It is as loud as they say,” Cavill exclaimed. “I loved it. I loved it.”
Then Patrick Mahomes would come along and suddenly his team started winning and the rest is history.