Photo: https://frontofficesports.com/cfp-considers-super-bowl-like-rotation-for-national-championship-game/
Welcome back to The Sunstone Way.
This Sunday, one of the biggest sports extravaganzas of the year for the United States will take place. It’s the Super Bowl, the national championship of American football.
This is the 59th year for the game, which pits champions from the American Conference and the National Conference. This year, the Kansas City Chiefs are attempting to win their third straight Super Bowl – something that’s never been done before. The Philadelphia Eagles will try to stop them.
Cultural Phenomenon
The Super Bowl began as a sort of promotional game between the upstart American Football League champion and the National Football League champ in 1967. The Kansas City Chiefs represented the AFL in that game too, losing to the Green Bay Packers, 35-10.
The game was the precursor to a merger of the two leagues in 1970, creating a National Football League with two conferences. The game grew quickly in importance and in hoopla, with celebrity half-time shows and host cities competing for the tourist dollars attracted by all the extravagant parties and events as well as the game itself.
As the NFL expanded to its current 32 teams, the league expanded the playoffs to qualify for the championship, with wildcard and division games before conference championships. In recent years, it has become a television must-see, with million-dollar commercials competing for attention with superstar-powered half-time shows. Michael Jackson started that trend in 1993; rapper Kendrick Lamar is the star this year.
It makes for several hours of television (especially if you add the football game) that is the most watched of the year. Last year, it was estimated that 120 million people tuned in to the show.
About The Game
The added number of playoff games has allowed a wildcard to sneak through to the big game occasionally. But not this year. Kansas City won its division by a large margin with a 15-2 record, while Philadelphia finished 14-3, winning the NFC East by two games.
Both teams were favored to win throughout the playoffs, and the Eagles and Chiefs are two of only three teams to play in four Super Bowls since 2004. Philadelphia won the Super Bowl in 2017 and lost to the Chiefs in 2022 to start Kansas City’s current winning streak. They have won three of the last four Super Bowls, losing to Tampa Bay in 2021.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has led his team to seven straight conference championship games, winning five. Jalen Hurts has started for the Eagles for less than four years and already has 46 victories while Shaquon Barkley came to Philadelphia this year and promptly ran for more than 2,000 yards in the regular season.
In other words, both teams have plenty of talent.
Building A Winner
The kind of consistent excellence shown by both teams over the last decade or so doesn’t come easily, especially in a team sport like football. It starts by building a core with a culture of dedication and teamwork. Kansas City has had Mahomes, Travis Kelsey and veterans on both offense and defense. The Eagles have the same sort of core, especially since Hurts became a starter.
Both teams also went after new talent year after year, whether that was on the line or in the defensive backfield. Kansas City has several veterans who have taken on mentoring roles to get rookies into the Chief mindset – teamwork and helping make others better.
The Eagles already were consistent winners before the season began. But they added one cog – Shaquon Barkley, who had been good for the New York Giants, but wanted to play on a winner. He has been a difference-maker, particularly in the post-season.
That approach works for business, too. I have seen it here at Sunstone. We work hard to win as a team, but don’t hesitate to make changes as necessary, always looking to get better.
Stay Flexible
Kansas City and Philadelphia are familiar with each other – defenses know offensive tendencies, and vice versa. You can bet the coaches of both teams have spent the last 10 days coming up with new ways to get the job done.
That’s the best thing about this metaphor of sports mimicking life and vice versa. To succeed, you keep what you do well, but you also look to evolve and get better. That’s an approach we’ve vowed to take this year.
I look forward to watching the game this Sunday to see the best against the best. I look forward to following their model for success as well.
Because that’s The Sunstone Way.
And remember to always be a Sunstone!
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone Management, Inc.
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©Sunstone Management, Inc. 2025