We’re living in a Kansas City Chiefs economy, so a ChiefsAholic documentary was inevitable.
The NFL is showcasing the two-time defending Super Bowl champions as much as possible, to the point where the team is playing three games in 11 days. It’s no coincidence that on Christmas Eve, the day before Kansas City visits the Pittsburgh Steelers, Prime Video’s highly anticipated doc ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chief’s Clothing makes its debut.
Taylor Swift is the most famous Chiefs fan. Xaviar Babudar is the most infamous. It takes chutzpah to rob banks, especially since we’re moving closer to a cashless society and banks keep less money on site. Plus, with the amount of electronic surveillance, you’re eventually going to get caught. The risk hardly seems worth the reward.
And yet, Babudar pled guilty in February to one count of bank robbery while admitting to stealing more than $800,000 in 11 bank robberies across seven states. He was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison. This story captured the imagination of the sports world because it was so unusual. Imagine something as ludicrous as Clipper Darrell being accused of counterfeiting. The jokes and memes came fast and furious. Director Dylan Sires goes beyond the wisecracks to get more details and answer the root questions: Who is Babudar? Why did he do this?
ChiefsAholic is such a fascinating watch because Sires got access to Babudar’s bail bondsman Michael Lloyd. We see raw footage of Babudar leaving jail following his initial arrest in 2023. We see Babudar watching Super Bowl LVII from a hotel when his beloved Chiefs rallied to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles. Watching him celebrate under these conditions is all kinds of sad. Babudar comes across as someone with a gambling addiction and other behavioral issues. And we see Lloyd’s relentless pursuit when Babudar jumps bail. It’s like a sports version of The Fugitive as law authorities and Lloyd pursue the most wanted sports fans in America.
ChiefsAholic does a good job of describing the subculture of super-fandom. There are precious few of them who truly emerge to be as well-known as the team and become defacto franchise ambassadors. From that standpoint, Babudar accomplished something noteworthy and something meaningful to him. He stood out at Arrowhead Stadium because of his distinct gray wolf costume. The fact that he went on a bank-robbing spree to fund his fandom is where the story leaps into the bizarre.
Sires’ interviews with fellow Chiefs fans reveal mixed feelings about Babudar. Thankfully, the director does not glorify him or turn a felon into a cartoon character. His interview with former bank teller Payton Garcia, a mother of two, is particularly compelling. She later successfully sued Babudar. However, the biggest star in the documentary is Lloyd. Bondsman/ bounty hunters are interesting because they deal with unsavory characters. In ChiefsAholic, there are plenty of insights into his job and his compassion.
Lloyd comes across as both a businessperson but also caring until you screw with his livelihood. And even after Babudar is recaptured, he still wants to know why the convict made the choices that he did. ChiefsAholic doesn’t answer all the questions. But thanks to Sires we get more insights into one of the strangest sports stories in recent memory.
