The Kansas City Chiefs will appear in their third consecutive Super Bowl on Sunday, and their fourth in the last five seasons. Among many other things, this means every core player on the roster's oddities has been examined under a microscope and reported to the general public over and over again.
One of those oddities involves Chiefs star defender Chris Jones. Jones has been a crucial part of the defensive line in each of K.C.’s three Super Bowl wins to this point, and made huge, game-changing plays when the Chiefs needed him the most. And at this point, it has become legend that he's powered by meatballs.
Specifically, meatballs made by Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's wife.
ESPN first reported back in 2021 that Maria Spagnuolo's homemade meatballs were a superstition for Jones, and he's eaten them before the Super Bowl ever since the Chiefs' first win following the 2019 season. For anybody worried about this year, worry no more—Jeff Darlington was delighted to report for the four-letter network on Sunday that Jones had gotten his meatballs from Mrs. Spagnuolo.
"Chris Jones needs his meatballs before every single Super Bowl win."@JeffDarlington says Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo's wife makes sure Chris Jones is hooked up before the big game 💪 pic.twitter.com/F0yOqRwMQS
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 9, 2025
Critical reporting by Darlington and even more critical cooking by Spagnuolo. Chiefs fans are surely glad she followed up again this year.
Jones is very superstitious; he shared with ESPN in the initial meatball story that he never changed his game gloves during a 2018 sack streak even though they wound up smelling like a "dead animal" by the end. So if he's got the meatballs then the Chiefs can be reasonably confident he'll have a big day.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chiefs Star Chris Jones Got Superstitious Meatballs From Coach's Wife Yet Again.
