Gotta Catch ‘Em All: How Pokémon cards have bound Chiefs’ OL in quest for Super Bowl repeat

In a unique NFL season altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, something near and dear to the childhood of several Kansas City Chiefs players has brought them closer together.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game was massively popular among youth in the late ’90s. It followed the hit Pokémon video games and anime series, but unlike those representations, it gave kids something physical that they could collect. Flash forward to October of 2020 and the card-collecting hobby saw a massive resurgence among those same much-older fans. Even today, if you go to your local trading card shop or big-box retailer and you’ll find near-empty store shelves.

When the Chiefs won the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills, it became apparent that a few members of the team had joined in on the repopularized hobby. After the game, OL Andrew Wylie tweeted in excitement, “Gonna buy so many Pokémon cards this week.”

Starting LG Nick Allegretti would soon follow.

So how did collecting Pokémon cards become so popular among these NFL players? Well, according to Allegretti and Austin Reiter, it was Wylie who got the fad started amongst his teammates. It all really got going for the offensive line back when the Chiefs faced the Buccaneers in Week 12.

“Yeah, so I think me, (Andrew) Wylie, Auster (Reiter), Mike Remmers and you know Pat (Mahomes) joined us last week for a bit,” Allegretti told Chiefs Wire. “I think we all kind of enjoyed (Pokémon cards) as kids. I think Wylie just— I think it was on the bye week maybe— you know started opening some packs and kind of just got a little bit hooked on it. I had done this about a year ago, so when he told me, I went and got some more packs. I think it was actually, it’s funny, Tampa Bay was the first game that we started opening packs together and it kind of just snowballed.”

What started out as a simple hobby, quickly became a tradition for the Chiefs’ offensive line group. After that Week 12 win over the Bucs, they began opening packs of Pokémon cards together, virtually. It’d happen each week following their Saturday night team meetings.

“You know I think it kind of has come full circle,” Reiter told Chiefs Wire. “We were talking about that this morning, I think it was kind of Andrew (Wylie) that brought, basically, a pack of cards to Tampa (in Week 12). And Saturday night, we do our night meetings, and then right after that we go back to our rooms and we’ve got a little bit of time there. And we’ve been ripping open packs on those Saturday nights and it has kind of turned into a little tradition.”

One of the most unique challenges presented by COVID-19 for NFL teams has been building chemistry amongst teammates. The usual avenues, like the Chiefs’ famous locker room basketball hoop, aren’t available. For the offensive line group in Kansas City, collecting Pokémon cards was something they could all take part in and enjoy together, while also being apart.

“It reminds me of being a little kid,” Reiter said. “So it’s fun, and with the quarantine deal and everything, we can’t go out and do anything, so it’s a nice outlet and it has been a fun hobby so far this season.”

The tradition has since extended beyond the offensive line unit too. Patrick Mahomes has long been praised for his ability to relate to anyone in the locker room. Well, he definitely has a good relationship with his offensive linemen.

“Obviously, we have a great relationship, between the center and quarterback, it always is,” Mahomes explained on Monday. “With Austin (Reiter), I mean, I’ve even opened up Pokémon cards with that guy before. So I think our relationship is kind of on a high level after that.”

And the tradition continues to grow, with a pack opening of epic proportions in the works for Saturday night ahead of Super Bowl LV.

“It has kind of gotten out of hand a little bit,” Reiter said. “I think we’re bringing like 50-60 packs now.”

Injuries along the offensive line have become magnified for Kansas City ahead of Super Bowl LV. Many are wondering how the shuffled group of offensive linemen will play together in the biggest game of the year. Taking precedence is the preparation on the practice field, but Pokémon cards have brought chemistry, laughter and fun to a challenging season.

“We all kind of have a little bit of a nerdier side to us, so this is definitely something that we enjoy,” Allegretti said. “It’s something fun, totally unrelated to football that we can do the night before the game to decompress. So it’s definitely a lot of fun.”

Hopefully, the tradition will help them in their quest to catch another Super Bowl title too.