photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans fill the intersection of Massachusetts and Ninth streets after their team won the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

As he looked for a place on Massachusetts Street to watch the Kansas City Chiefs in their fourth Super Bowl in five seasons, about 45 minutes before game time, Overland Park native Neal Johnson said it felt “still just as amazing” as their first appearance of his lifetime.

“When you’re a lifelong Chiefs fan and you’ve kind of seen a lot of playoff heartbreak over the years, it almost feels like you’re just going to wake up at some point,” he said. “You’re just waiting for the dream to be over. Just like I can’t believe that this is actually happening.”

Did Johnson believe there was a chance, though, that he might have to wake up, as it were, Sunday evening?

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I mean, you have to treat it like it could be the last Super Bowl, because you never know what’s going to happen, so you just have to cherish it as much as you can, so that’s why it never gets old for me.”

The significant chunk of Lawrence’s population that turned out to watch the Chiefs downtown certainly enjoyed another chance to watch what was once a long-suffering franchise play on the biggest stage in American sports yet again. And after a scare, the Chiefs faithful got exactly what they wanted as Kansas City triumphed over San Francisco 25-22 in overtime — its second consecutive Super Bowl win and third since 2020.

Shortly after 9:45 p.m., fans flooded into the streets of downtown Lawrence, creating the mass of humanity at Massachusetts and Ninth streets that has become a familiar sight these last few years. Cries of “Dynasty, baby! Dynasty!” and “Back to back!” reflected the team’s recent levels of dominance — a far cry from what many Chiefs fans remembered in younger years.

“When I was in high school, they were not doing well and I had to defend them so many times,” said Alane Thomas on the patio of the Red Lyon Tavern shortly after the game ended. “So to see them doing so well is amazing. I’m so happy for them, I’m happy for the fans, I’m so happy for the kiddos. This is great. This is so cool.”

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans stampede out of Rusty Taco after their team won the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans stampede out of Rusty Taco after their team won the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

For many of the jubilant supporters, this year’s victory felt just that much sweeter because the Chiefs had endured more adversity during the year. Kansas City had a slump at midseason and figured things out in time to make its latest deep playoff run.

“We had no receivers,” said Phillip Rodriquez, who was watching the celebration while sporting a wrestling-style title belt with the Chiefs logo. “Everybody thought we were no good. And this is what happens.”

The mood downtown had already been optimistic in the lead-up to Sunday’s big game.

The tune of the Chiefs’ “tomahawk chop” chant — which would later echo through the celebratory crowds — blared from car speakers. A man wearing a red blazer and gold dress pants who was juggling a tall stack of pizza boxes got complimented by a passersby as he walked out of Minsky’s Pizza, and responded, “This is my lucky suit.” A long line of eager fans stretched out of Logie’s on Mass, under the watchful eye of a news camera.

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans line up outside Logie’s on Mass before the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans line up outside Logie’s on Mass before the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

Married couple Jim and Shelby Bauer, both Kansas natives, remembered extending a trip to Key West back in 2020 so they could hopscotch over to Miami and see the first Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl, when “it had been like 500 years since we’d won,” Shelby recalled. (The Chiefs’ only prior championship was in the 1971 Super Bowl.)

“That was so fun. We feel so blessed to have been there,” she said.

The Chiefs lost to Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021, then beat the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. Their run through this year’s playoffs featured a unique flair, as they had to win playoff games on the road for the first time.

“This one feels like the revenge tour,” Jim said.

“We love being the villains, dude,” added Hunter Pope, who said he had been a Chiefs fan all 18 years of his life.

Few and far between were 49ers fans.

Other passersby in downtown had less of a vested interest in the game. Bryce Dixon was accompanied by his fellow Packers fan Will Cox, in a No. 4 Kansas basketball jersey, and Josh Besaw, sporting the Miami Dolphins’ No. 10, who planned to traverse the various possible viewing locations on Massachusetts Street. While the trio said the novelty of repeated Chiefs Super Bowl appearances had worn off, Cox was still willing to entertain the possibility of a future Packers-Chiefs matchup.

Dixon said he expected a 34-28 victory for the Chiefs — and he found a way to get some investment in the game even as a neutral fan.

“Don’t bet against Patrick Mahomes, man,” he said. “Historically, if he’s the underdog, he’s going to win, so I got money riding on it, too, so hopefully he pulls through.”

He did indeed. Mahomes led his team to a game-tying field goal to close out regulation, then after the 49ers went up early in overtime on a field goal of their own, scrambled for multiple key first downs on a 13-play, 75-yard game-winning touchdown drive. He threw the decisive score to Mecole Hardman from three yards out and won his third Super Bowl MVP honor.

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans on the patio at the Red Lyon Tavern high-five after a pivotal fourth-down conversion late in the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

Thomas said she was so anxious while the game was going on that she had to watch it through a mirror at certain points.

“I thought I was going to barf during the game, and now I’m just so happy to see everyone celebrating,” she said.

As it turned out, the avowed Packers fan Dixon had found his way to the Red Lyon Tavern patio, too, and despite asserting that the Chiefs’ win meant “nothing” to him was as exuberant as anyone in town.

“Just to be a part of Mass Street, this is immaculate,” he said. “I want to be a part of this.”

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans fill Massachusetts Street after their team won the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans watch the celebration at Massachusetts and Ninth streets after their team won the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Chiefs fans fill the intersection of Massachusetts and Ninth streets after their team won the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.

PHOTO GALLERY: Fans celebrate in downtown Lawrence

STORY: Chiefs beat 49ers in OT, win second Super Bowl in a row