Some four hours earlier they stood in this room, and the low, booming, almost cartoonishly strong voice of Justin Houston banged off the walls.
Thousands of fans awaited them outside the door and down the tunnel. Millions more would watch through a national television broadcast for a game that everyone in the room knew was critical if those Super Bowl plans were anything more than delusion.
Moments like this have a way of turning even mundane words into legend, of somehow transforming cliches into unforgettable speeches, but here the Chiefs’ leader kept his message simple.
“This game is meant to (be) fun,” he said.