PORTLAND, Ore. -- Willie Cauley-Stein was in a confident mood Monday afternoon.
Fewer than 24 hours after his Kansas City Chiefs clinched their third Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, setting up a date with the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Feb. 2, Cauley-Stein said he never doubted the Chiefs' path out of the AFC.
"I already knew they were going," Cauley-Stein told NBC Sports Bay Area. "As soon as the [New England] Patriots were out we were good. We were great."
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Cauley-Stein's fandom can be traced to his childhood. A native of Spearville, Kansas -- more than 300 miles away from Arrowhead Stadium -- he loved the Chiefs from an early age. But it would be his scholastic struggles that brought him closer to the franchise.
As a prep prospect in Spearville, his grades dwindled, putting a potential college career in peril. In an effort to improve his grades, the 7-footer was sent 300 miles to live with AAU teammate Shavon Shields, son of then-Chiefs offensive lineman Will Shields. Cauley-Stein transferred to Olathe Northwest High School in a Kansas City suburb. Cauley-Stein's grades began to improve under the elder Shields' tutelage, helping him become eligible for a scholarship to Kentucky.
"He was really like a straightforward, smart, really intelligent dude," Cauley-Stein said. "I see how he was living and how much he was saving. I think that was the biggest thing about him. How intelligent he was about is money."
The current iteration of Cauley-Stein's football team has become an offensive juggernaut. During a 12-4 regular season, the Chiefs ranked sixth in total offense (379.2 yards per game) and fifth in passing offense (281.2 yards).
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The biggest reason is quarterback Patrick Mahones, whom observers have compared to Cauley-Stein's current teammate Stephen Curry for their shared propensity for solo offensive displays. In a 51-31 win over the Houston Texans two weeks ago, the Chiefs erased a 24-0 deficit, out-scoring the Texans 28-3 in the second quarter.
When broached with the cross-sport comparison between MVPs, Curry and Cauley-Stein each had a unique response.
"'Cause we're both light-skinned?" Curry jokingly asked.
"If you want to break it down football to basketball," Cauley-Stein followed up, "they're pretty similar."
"The beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Curry added.
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The Warriors are slated to be in a Washington, D.C. hotel during the NFL's finale. Cauley-Stein believes the Chiefs can win their first Super Bowl in half a century.
"If we come in ready," he said. "The only way I feel like San Francisco can beat us is if we don't come in ready to play -- if we come in there cooling. It's going to be a good game. It's definitely going to be who has the better gameplan."