The NFL has not seen a modern day three-peat in the Super Bowl era. The Kansas City Chiefs will look to become the first to do so on Sunday when they face the Eagles in Super Bowl 59. And if they are successful, they will be able to fully celebrate thanks to a deal with Miami Heat executive Pat Riley.
If you aren’t familiar with the story, Riley trademarked the phrase long ago when he was head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers after they had won back-to-back championships. Ironically, the Lakers never won three titles in a row under Riley. However, the Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan were able to do it on two occasions in the 1990s, sometimes even defeating Pat Riley’s Knicks on the way to the title. And then Riley’s former team the Lakers did it from 2000-2002 with Shaq and Kobe.
With the Chiefs going for their third straight championship, there has been speculation on if they would be able to use the favored phrase of sports fans to describe the accomplishment. And according to Darren Rovell at cllct, that is indeed the case. Any money that Riley receives in royalties would go to his foundation.
Riley’s trademark attorney John Aldrich told cllct on Tuesday that there is an agreement in place with the NFL to use “Three Peat” if it happens. Aldrich would not comment on what percentage royalty Riley would make, but did say plans are, as has been in the past, to earmark it for the Pat Riley Family Foundation.
Riley first filed for “Three Peat” at the start of the 1988-89 season, right after the Los Angeles Lakers, who he coached at the time, won their second championship. Riley never cashed in on “Three Peat,” as the Detroit Pistons beat his Lakers the next year.
Four seasons later, however, Riley got paid when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won their third straight title in June 1993 and became the first NBA team to win three in a row since the Celtics did it in 1966.
The “three-peat” is one of the most elusive marks of a dynasty in sports. Even Tom Brady and the New England Patriots never achieved it throughout the course of their successful run in the 2000s. It has happened in the NFL before. The Green Bay Packers won three straight NFL championships from 1929-1931 and again from 1965-1967. They also won Super Bowl I and II as part of that three-peat run.
Of course, it could all be a moot point if the Philadelphia Eagles win on Sunday. And hopefully for Pat Riley, it gives him one less thing to worry about with the ongoing Jimmy Butler drama in Miami.