Don't ever call Kansas City Chiefs fans, ungrateful. A rather large portion of the fan base is very eager to offer their thanks to a current Miami Dolphins player.
A new petition which has just under 18,000 signatures, at the time of this publication, is looking to show Ryan Fitzpatrick thanks for his heroics against the New England Patriots on Sunday. The petition is trying to get the quarterback to come to Arrowhead Stadium during the playoffs and bang the famous drum.
What might have started out as a kind of joke has taken off. While it sat at just 11,000 on Monday morning, it seems likely to be topping 20,000 by the evening.
There now appears to be a very real group of Chiefs fans who are wanting to show their appreciation to a player on another team for what he did against a rival.
Kansas Chiefs move up
While the Chiefs were taking care of business against the San Diego Chargers, the Dolphins were pulling off a rather big upset. The New England Patriots entered the day as the number two seed in the AFC behind the Baltimore Ravens. KC came into the day as the number three seed.
Seeding can make or break an NFL team when it comes to playoff time because it determines how many games they get to play at home. As the Chiefs were putting away the Chargers, Fitzpatrick was leading the Dolphins down the field against the Pats.
While Miami trailed 24-20 late in the game, Fitzpatrick threw a laser to his receiver in the end zone, winning the game and dropping the Patriots to 12-4 on the year. That's the same record the Chiefs finished with, but Kansas City gets the tiebreaker because they beat the Patriots head to head earlier this season.
The come from behind victory for Miami also gives the Kansas City Chiefs a bye week.
That can be quite important when it comes to getting healthy and rested, as well as preparing for the first opponent in the playoffs.
Showing thanks
Now that the Kansas City Chiefs have managed to move up the seedings in the AFC playoffs, more than a couple of fans are wanting to show their thanks to someone who helped them.
They don't care that its someone they have squared off against more than once.
The poll, with more than 17,000 votes makes it clear it understands this is about giving Ryan Fitzpatrick an honor that is considered one of the biggest that can be handed out at Arrowhead Stadium. Considering how quickly signatures are being added to the petition, it appears more and more Chiefs fans are coming around to the idea. It seems likely they'd have him do it during a game where the Chiefs might be hosting the New England Patriots in a chance to go to the AFC Championship against the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens.