By Joseph Hernandez | The Kansas City Star
In the 2025 NFL season, a new person will put on the costume that’s been synonymous with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs announced Tuesday that Dan Meers, who has played the role of KC Wolf for 35 years, is retiring from the role.
Over his career as KC Wolf, Meers was spotted everywhere, from school rallies to football games to supermarkets to parades, even walking women down the aisle and portraying the best man at weddings.
“Dan Meers has been the heart and soul behind KC Wolf for 35 years,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement. “Since joining the organization in 1990, Dan helped establish KC Wolf not only as a source of energy and enthusiasm on gamedays, but as a symbol of pride and passion for all of Chiefs Kingdom.”
Meers, who hails from St. Charles, first became a mascot during college at the University of Missouri, when he played Truman the Tiger from 1986 to 1990, winning the National Collegiate Mascot Championship in 1989. Meers also worked part time as Fredbird, the mascot for the MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals.
People are also reading…
The Chiefs made Meers a full-time member of the team shortly after they introduced KC Wolf as a replacement for the team’s live horse mascot, Warpaint. Meers hadn’t even earned his college degree before the Chiefs gave him the call.
He was the first mascot inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2006 and was also inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2020. Over his career, he performed at 375 total games, including preseason, postseason, five Super Bowls and six international games.
“To say I’m a blessed man is an understatement,” Meers said in a statement. “For the past 35 years I’ve had my dream job. I’ve worked for the team I love, in the city I love, with the people I love.”
The announcement comes three weeks after his wife, Cam Meers, died. In her obituary with Langsford Funeral Home, it says Dan Meers “pulled off one of the greatest sales jobs ever when he convinced Cam to walk down the aisle at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church and say, ‘I do’” in 1993.
Meers will continue to be involved with the Chiefs organization as a consultant and backup KC Wolf, according to the Chiefs. The team has already complete interviews with candidates to be the next mascot.
“After all these years I certainly hope Chiefs Kingdom knows just how much I love and appreciate them. I have memories and stories that will last me a lifetime,” Meers said in a statement.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of June 8, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
0 Comments
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!