(The Lion) — The man behind one of the NFL’s most beloved mascots is hanging up his paws after more than three decades, keeping his focus on God even after losing his wife earlier this year.
For 35 years, Dan Meers donned the K.C. Wolf costume at Kansas City Chiefs games, firing up the crowd and delighting children as he served as the “unofficial director of shenanigans” at Arrowhead Stadium, as one local television station put it. He was, the NFL said, the league’s longest-tenured mascot by more than a dozen years.
But Meers is retiring effective July 1, weeks after his wife Cam died following a heroic battle with cancer.
A devout Christian, Meers said he has no regrets.
“I’m just so thankful that God let me be married to her for 11,667 days,” Meers told KMBC 9 in Kansas City. “I would do it all over again. Regardless of how hard this journey has been, I’d sign up and walk down that aisle and say, ‘I do.’”
Meers’ job involved far more than entertaining fans on football Sundays. He made more than 10,000 appearances at a variety of gigs, including birthday parties, community events and even weddings – all while wearing a pear-shaped, 7-foot tall, 35-pound costume with 85-inch hips. Out of costume, he also traveled the country and gave speeches.
Of course, he also was on the sidelines as the Chiefs built a football dynasty with appearances in five of the past six Super Bowls, including three titles.
His personal demeanor matches that of the Wolf – joyful, outgoing and full of energy.
He told Sports Spectrum in 2023 his joy came from his relationship with Christ.
“Honestly, K.C. Wolf – that’s what I do. It’s not who I am. I am first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ,” he said. “My identity is I’m a child of God – that’s my true identity right there. K.C. Wolf is what I do, and I love what I do. And one day, I’ll pass it on to somebody else, but while I have this platform, I hope to use it to make a positive impact in this world.”
The Wolf wasn’t Meers’ first mascot job. He previously portrayed Truman the Tiger at the University of Missouri and Fredbird for the St. Louis Cardinals before landing the position as the K.C. Wolf, so named for a group of die-hard fans known as the “Wolfpack.” Meers is a big reason the Wolf is in the National Mascot Hall of Fame – one of only five NFL mascots honored there.
In 2013, he survived a 75-foot fall during a stunt practice that nearly killed him. Instead, he spent nine days in the hospital with a collapsed lung, seven broken ribs, a fractured tailbone and a broken vertebra. During his recovery, he focused on his faith and wrote a book, Wolves Can’t Fly: KC Wolf: Faith, Family & Fur.
“The hard thing about pain is it will make you into someone you don’t want to be because it makes you self-focused,” he told Sports Spectrum. “All you can focus on is your pain. … I don’t want my focus to be on me. I want my focus to be No. 1 on the Lord and No. 2 on those around me.”
The Chiefs set up a website, Chiefs.com/wolfmemories, where fans can share their favorite photos and videos of Meers as the K.C. Wolf.
