KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WPTA) – For Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and Carroll graduate Drue Tranquill, football wasn’t always his passion.

“Baseball was my first love and I thought during my time there at Carroll that I was going to go on and play major league baseball, that was my goal,” Tranquill said. “Something about Coach Dinan and our run we had there in those seasons, and the Friday night lights, and the fans, it just drew me.”

It’s a pull that took Tranquill on a journey from Carroll to Notre Dame and eventually the NFL in 2019 when he was drafted by the Chargers. In 2023, after four seasons in Los Angeles, a new opportunity arose in Kansas City with the defending champion Chiefs.

“During my time with the Chargers, I didn’t like the Chiefs,” Tranquill said. Playing them twice a year, they were who we were chasing in the division. I never thought the Chiefs would be an option.”

Tranquill’s choice to join the organization paid off immediately when Kansas City defeated the 49ers to win its second straight Super Bowl in his first season with the team.

“I remember when we won the Super Bowl on that two-point play, and just dropping to my hands and knees and tears rolling down my face,” Tranquill said.

It was a moment that the linebacker felt stems from his development in 21Country.

“I don’t think anybody can just wake up and go win a championship,” Tranquill said. “I think it takes a foundation and the city of Fort Wayne and Carroll high school, and all my roots played a critical role in building my foundation.”

One of those foundation builders was Tranquill’s head coach at Carroll, Doug Dinan.

“Drue’s work ethic was always unparalleled to anybody,” Dinan said. “He always continued to work very hard, and that’s not just on the field, that was in the weight room, his leadership within the locker room.”

Years of those sustained efforts now bring the Carroll graduate to yet another Super Bowl this season, as the Chiefs prepare to take on the Eagles, an opportunity he’s waited for since the confetti fell last year.

“It was a special moment, but then quickly after it’s this hunger to win another one,” Tranquill said. “It’s weird to describe. It’s a good Philadelphia team we’re going to be playing against. Hopefully we’re able to hoist that Lombardi at the end.”

Tranquill and Kansas City will face off with the Eagles in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m.