Though Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs were unable to complete the elusive Three-Peat in Super Bowl LIV — for which the team had already prepared to license trademarks for the term from Miami Heat executive Pat Riley — one former Chiefs and current Eagles offensive lineman is picking up where they left off.
Darian Kinnard, who won the prior two championships as a member of the Chiefs (though, he was a member of the practice squad in 2023), captured his third consecutive ring this with the Eagles, becoming just the second player in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls.
Now, Kinnard is hoping to cash in with licenses from the NFLPA and Riley to sell his own “Three-Peat” shirts through BreakingT, a sports apparel retailer.
BreakingT announced last week it had secured a license for the phrase from Riley, who first trademarked the phrase in 1988 as Lakers coach, after the team won two consecutive championships. Though the Lakers did not complete the “Three-Peat,” his multiple trademarks of the phrase paid dividends when Michael Jordan’s Bulls pulled off two runs of three consecutive championships, as well as for the Yankees and Lakers dynasties in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
Kinnard, who was drafted in the fifth round in 2022, has only appeared in three games in his career and been on the field for less than 75 snaps, is selling T-shirts for $36 each on the BreakingT site.
This is far from the payday Riley was hoping to receive when he agreed to terms with the Chiefs, which likely would have provided him with a 10% to 15% royalty on the wholesale price of each item, assuming the deal reflects industry standard practices.
Royalties from the Kinnard shirts are likely to amount to a small sum, considering the player’s relative anonymity and lack of marketing backing from a team or the league.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.