Kansas City Chiefs retire its horse mascot, Warpaint

Publish date: 2024-08-28

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The Kansas City Chiefs are retiring its horse mascot, saying the time has come to put Warpaint out to pasture.

NFL fans won’t see the team’s longtime mare mascot at Arrowhead Stadium during the upcoming season, team president Mark Donovan told reporters Monday.

“We feel like it’s time to retire Warpaint,” Donovan said at Missouri Western State University, the Kansas City Star reported. “A lot of reasons for that, but we feel like it’s the right thing to do. Warpaint won’t be running at Arrowhead anymore.”

Donovan’s announcement came just days after MLB’s Cleveland Indians announced Friday that the team would be changing its name to the Guardians following the 2021 season, acknowledging that the moniker was offensive to indigenous peoples.

Native American imagery such as headdresses is now banned at Arrowhead Stadium. Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Warpaint, the longtime mare mascot, won’t be at Arrowhead Stadium during the upcoming season. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

But Donovan reiterated Monday the Chiefs have no plans to change their name, which led to protests outside Raymond James Stadium ahead of February’s Super Bowl LV.

“Obviously we knew about the Cleveland decision a year-plus ago,” Donovan told reporters. “We knew this was going to happen. [It] doesn’t really change our approach. We’ll continue to take the path that we’ve taken — educating ourselves, our fans, creating opportunities to create awareness.”

The decision also comes after the Chiefs announced a series of moves last August regarding Native American imagery at Arrowhead, barring anyone from wearing headdresses inside the stadium, as well as “American Indian-themed” face paint.

The team also said it was reviewing its practice of the “Arrowhead Chop” — where fans mimic tomahawk chops. The action has been criticized as being an offensive caricature of Native Americans.

The celebration is now supposed to be done with a closed fist rather than an open hand, to signal the beating of a drum instead, the Kansas City Star reported.

The Kansas City Chiefs announcement comes days after the Cleveland Indians announced they’ll be changing their name to the Guardians. Jason Miller/Getty Images

The original Warpaint dates back to the Chiefs’ home games at Municipal Stadium before it was demolished in 1976. A man in traditional Native American headdress rode the horse across the field following Chiefs touchdowns, the Kansas City Star reported.

The mare then had a 20-year hiatus before returning for the franchise’s 50th anniversary in 2009, KMBC reported.

The team’s moniker, meanwhile, was not derived in connection to Native Americans. The team was named after former Kansas City Mayor Harold Roe Bartle, who was nicknamed “The Chief” and helped bring AFL’s Dallas Texans franchise there, according to the Kansas City Star.

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