Chief Ihmir Smith-Marsette’s wide receiver has valuable cargo to return.
A missing skeleton from a group of Chiefs fans during Wednesday’s Super Bowl parade, prompting an online search for the owner of the bones, has been returned.
The skeleton was taken from a group that included Mallory Mong, an Overland Park University of Kansas student who also made an appearance with her father, Grant Mong, in the 2020 Super Bowl parade.
He was at the parade with family members including his father and some of his friends who showed up in the parade adorned in costumes and hats to cheer up the crowds. But they also hoped to get the attention of Chiefs players.
The Mongs were in a crowd at 19th Street and Grand Boulevard near the Reactor Design Studio owned by their family friend Clifton Alexander, who also owns the skeleton.
“He had it in the studio and so my dad grabbed it the night before and knew it was going to be part of our parade of shenanigans!” Mallory Mong told The Star on Thursday.
Mallory Mong and her father, Grant Mong, cheer on the Chiefs at the Super Bowl parade on Wednesday. February 15, 2023.
The skeleton caught the eye of Smith-Marsette, who walked over to see it.
“The players loved the skeleton. We told them it was the skeleton of all the quarterbacks Mahomes buried on his way to the Super Bowl,” Mong said.
The broad receiver promised to bring the skeleton back, then scurried away with the bones in the air.
“Didn’t bring it back,” Mong tweeted.
Over the next few hours, the skeleton was photographed partying with Super Bowl champs, even taking piggyback rides on top of double-decker buses.
After the festivities ended, Mong tagged Smith-Marsette on Twitter and asked, “Where’s my skeleton??”
He replied on Twitter: “He’s still somewhere celebrating the parade, he’s probably dead from all the holidays.”
On Thursday, Mong offered Smith-Marsette a deal, tweeting, “I’ll grab the Prada glasses or a boss shirt and call it even.”
On Saturday, Mong received a reply.
“I’m trying to return it safely to you all!!!” Smith-Marsette tweeted, along with a selfie with the skeleton, who sat behind him in a vehicle.
Grant Mong told The Star on Sunday that the skeleton will be returning home after “its absolutely WILD escape from our hands into the loving arms of so many Kansas City Chiefs players as it rode the bus down Grand Street and into the hearts of so many adoring fans”.
Grant added that, after watching the past few days unfold, he’s confident Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes can trust Smith-Marsette with the ball.
“Ihmir Smith-Marsette has proven to be quite the Chiefs Wide Receiver with big hands. We entrusted him with our skeleton and he DID NOT DISAPPOINT,” he said. “Ihmir Smith-Marsette is kind enough to have made the effort to get him home safely. Truly the best!”
The skeleton, before the abduction.
As for the reunion? Exact details have yet to be released, but once “Bones” returns to his office, she can look forward to a promotion.
Rest assured, Mong said, “This skeleton isn’t lying cold, lifeless in some gutter in Kansas City, Missouri.”
While housed in the basement of the Reactor Design Studio, Grant has a good feeling that “Bones” will soon be promoted to an upstairs cubicle.
Contributed by Lisa Gutierrez of The Star.
