After securing a first-round bye as the top-seeded team in the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs begin their quest this weekend to do something that no team in NFL history has ever accomplished: Win three straight Super Bowls.
Led by the sensational Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, the Chiefs have as good a chance as any to go on a deep postseason run. Kansas City is known for its passionate football fans, and given the team’s recent success, it’s become a Super Bowl-or-bust kind of town.
This passionate fanbase has served as the loyal audience to a journalist whose roots trace back to the Diocese of Brooklyn. Pete Sweeney, a former Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) athlete and student at Our Lady of the Snows, North Floral Park, has covered the Chiefs since 2014, a tenure that has included Super Bowl victories in 2020, 2023, and 2024.
Sweeney’s love of sports began in the CYO, where he played basketball and soccer at the parish. He later attended Chaminade H.S., Mineola, New York, before heading to the State University of New York at Cortland for his undergraduate degree in sports management.
He had his sights set on becoming the general manager of a professional baseball team. For that competitive career path, one must start small, which Sweeney did. His first job out of college was as the video intern for the Arizona Diamondbacks Rookie League affiliate, the Missoula (Montana) PaddleHeads. From there, he spent two seasons as an intern with the Tampa Bay Rays before returning to New York to attend Syracuse University’s renowned graduate program in sports journalism and communications. While there, his focus started to shift from the front office to the press box, which would allow him to still be around the sports he loved.
Upon graduation, he landed a six-month unpaid internship with the Chiefs as a writer for the team’s website. Over the next several seasons, the gig evolved into a part-time and then into a full-time role. Sweeney was later hired by Vox Media as editor-in-chief of Arrowhead Pride, a site run by SB Nation. He now leads a team of 16 writers that produce content daily for the devout fanbase.
Over the years, he’s added guest spots on Kansas City sports radio 810 and recurring television analyst/hosting appearances on KSHB 41 TV, the local NBC affiliate, including the popular “For Pete’s Take.” Though his weekly schedule — especially during the NFL season — is jam-packed, he’s living out his dream of a career in sports.
Sweeney is also the author of “A Dynasty Begins: The Kansas City Chiefs’ 2022 Championship Season,” a commemorative magazine-style book that covers the team’s first of consecutive Super Bowl-winning seasons. At the time, the book’s publication was contingent upon the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. So, with the team down 24-14 to the Philadelphia Eagles at halftime, it seemed that Sweeney’s work might been all for naught.
Yet, thanks to some classic Mahomes magic, the Chiefs won the game 38-35. Growing up as a New York Giants fan, Sweeney was blessed to have experienced two memorable Super Bowl runs. However, things become much different when covering a team full time.
“Once you work in the NFL, you kind of drop your fandom,” Sweeney said. “As a football fan, I experienced the apex with the Giants. You’re not going to experience a better feeling as an NFL fan.“You have to shed your colors when you do this work, so it’s good to have experienced two championships as a fan before doing this.”
That said, covering the Chiefs — a team that’s been the class of the NFL in recent years — has allowed Sweeney to produce hard-hitting content for dedicated fans who, he said, could easily read about the team for days on end. “I wouldn’t call it rooting, but the job is a lot more fun when the Chiefs are winning,” he said. “There’s a lot more gravity to the games, so naturally, there’s a pull to wanting to see them succeed and play in big games.”
Given his hectic schedule, Sweeney has relied on his Catholic upbringing and schooling to develop the discipline and time management skills needed to keep everything running smoothly.
“Having to put on a tie early on at Our Lady of the Snows and Chaminade gave me a sense of responsibility at a very young age,” he said. “The structure, the organization, and certainly some of the values have helped me go through a challenging career.”
Chiefs fans are optimistic that a three-peat is possible. While there are some tough teams in the AFC, the Chiefs have the experience, the skill, and, of course, Mahomes. But it’s the NFL; anything can happen. And whichever way the ball bounces, Sweeney will be along for the exciting ride.
