We all love our mascots, even if their ongoing antics are occasionally overdone. The Kansas City Chiefs have a pretty unique one in KC Wolf, and this particular NFL furry ranked especially high when it comes to mascot toughness.
The Athletic recently did a piece by Steven Louis Goldstein ranking NFL mascots this week, and it’s safe to say that KC Wolf stood out, finishing fourth overall. Some of Wolf’s highlights are jaw-dropping, so let’s review.
Start by stating that KC Wolf is a Hall of Fame mascot. Wolf was the first mascot elected back in 2006, and part of the reason for the ranking and the elite status was the proficiency as an on-field cop.
As Goldstein noted, if you’re on the field and you’re not supposed to be, KC Wolf will take you out, and not gently, either. The Chiefs mascot has taken out wayward fans seeking their fifteen seconds of fame, flag wavers from arch rivals, and even the Christmas Grinch while wearing Santa Claus garb.
Then there’s the Wolf’s reputation for playing hurt. (Mascot-ing hurt?) Dan Meers is the guy who worked for a lot of years as KC Wolf, and his injury list included seven broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a shattered vertebra and another vert that was broken after a stunt went awry back in 2013.
The mother of all KC Wolf stories, though, is about his evil twin. That would be former Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babadur, who also went by “ChiefsAholic,” at least before he was sentenced to 17-1/2 years in prison without parole after committing a series of armed bank robberies and attempted robberies.
Babadur was famous (notorious?) for wearing a gray wolf suit to Chiefs game, but at least he had a good time during his 15 minutes of fame, stealing over $800,000 during robberies committed in 2022 and 2023, then laundering money in casinos. He also had to make restitution as part of his plea deal, and one of the items Babadur had to turn over was an autographed painting of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which became government property.
Given all these highlights and lowlights, it’s surprising that KC Wolf didn’t rank higher, but we don’t know the exact criteria here. The winner was the Indianapolis Colts mascot, Blue, whose pelvic thrusts and pie-in-the-face antics have made him (it? them?) a four-time winner in this endlessly entertaining battle to go further over the top.