From left to right: Kansas City natives Eric Stonestreet, Paul Rudd, Rob Riggle and Jason Sudeikis promote the Big Slick charity.
Jeff Fedotin
During Kansas City Chiefs games, who is the most frequent texter among their noted celebrity fans? Eric Stonestreet joked that it is actually Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
“He’ll ask for plays,” David Koechner said.
“We tell him: ‘Please focus on the game,’” Rob Riggle chimed in.
“He loves that Homer GIF when he goes into the shrub,” Jason Sudeikis said. “He overuses it.”
In reality, Stonestreet, Sudeikis, Koechner, Heidi Gardner and Paul Rudd grew up in the Kansas City or Missouri area and cope with the ups — back-to-back Super Bowl titles — and downs — last year’s third-place finish in the AFC West — of the Chiefs via an active text messaging thread during games.
“It helps with the excitement. It’s always a lot of fun,” Riggle said. “We’re all absolutely fanatics.”
The comedic actors’ thread is just one of several Chiefs threads Riggle is on. He also has one with his Marine Corps buddies.
To help with the multitasking during Chiefs game, Riggle joked that he will “cheat” on the threads and send the same thought to multiple groups.
“I’ll just write, ‘Holy s---, Mahomes,’ whatever,” he said. “I’ll make the thing and then I’ll copy it and just paste, paste, paste, paste, paste and then send it.”
In addition to his Chiefs thread, Riggle is on one with Stonestreet, Sudeikis, Koechner, Gardner and Rudd titled “Big Slick Hosts.”
That message group helped plan the logistics for the Big Slick — the philanthropic event for which the celebrities were on hand to speak.
Riggle called Rudd and Sudeikis, who all attended high school in the Shawnee Mission School District, in 2010 with an idea to host a poker tournament to raise money for Children’s Mercy hospital in Kansas City, Mo., leading to the first Big Slick Celebrity Weekend.
Now in its 17th year, Big Slick had raised nearly $30 million, heading into the 2026 event, through sponsorships, a live auction, branded merchandise and various other fundraising campaigns with the goal of treating pediatric cancer. It also has brought attention to the hospital, helping it land top medical and research talent from around the globe.
During the Saturday night show, which is usually at the T-Mobile Center, Chiefs players like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have participated in skits.
Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with Paul Rudd, following the Chiefs' Super Bowl LVIII victory on Feb. 11, 2024. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
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The comedic actors said they never miss a Chiefs game, including Rudd, who said he has watched every Chiefs game for the last 30 years or so.
Gardner regularly attends watch parties, and Riggle, who lives in Los Angeles, tries to go to at least one game at Arrowhead Stadium a year in addition to seeing his Chiefs visit the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders.
His Chiefs fandom was instilled in him while growing up in Overland Park, Kan. His next-door neighbors, who were season-ticket holders, took him and his dad to his first Chiefs game in 1975.
“It was magical,” Riggle said.
Stonestreet said he does not want to text too much because he concentrates fully on the game.
But the thread’s texts really start popping during the playoffs or if the TV cameras capture one of them at the game.
“We have a lot of fun on it,” Riggle said. “We crack a lot of jokes, and we keep each other laughing. We try to balance a lot of bravado with a lot of humility because some of us are superstitious, but we have a blast."
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