PHOENIX — Sometimes, it’s best to get immediately to the pertinent facts of a story, no matter how strange and quirky they might be.
Fact 1: There is a guy in Kansas City who has Patrick Mahomes‘ face tattooed on his lower back.
Fact 2: Mahomes has not only met this fan but even signed the aforementioned tattoo, live on national television.
Fact 3: Said signature was then immediately added to the original tat.
Mahomes often talks about the inscription, now known as the Champ Stamp, when asked for evidence of just how passionate Kansas City Chiefs supporters are. When I quizzed him about it on media night, his face immediately lit up into a beaming smile.
And, get this, the fan who loved the Chiefs and idolized its all-world quarterback so much as to etch his likeness to his body for eternity? Every single time he has watched Mahomes play live … the Chiefs have won.
David Leach is his name, and he has quite a tale to tell. He’s the frontman for a Missouri-based band called Dirty Machine that’s good enough to have toured with Insane Clown Posse. He’s an actor, having had supporting roles in network TV series such as “This Is Us” and “State of Affairs.”
David Leach was so hopeful for the Chiefs to land a franchise QB that he made a bet that ended up putting him in a tattoo artist’s chair.
He’s now an unlikely good luck charm in human form, but back on draft day in 2017, he was a just a die-hard Chiefs fan at a time when being such a thing wasn’t a whole lot of fun.
“I was in the bar with my buddies, the Chiefs were about to draft, and I was just frustrated,” Leach told me via telephone. “I had been a Chiefs fan my whole life, and it occurred to me that I just didn’t know what it was like to support a team that had a franchise quarterback. I’d given up on it. So I said to my boys, ‘If we draft a franchise QB this year I’ll get his face tattooed on me.'”
Later that day, Mahomes was snapped up with pick No. 10, which now looks like the steal of the century. By the end of the 2018 regular season, in which Mahomes won the NFL’s MVP award, it was blatantly obvious the Chiefs had found their guy for the future. And Leach knew a deal was a deal.
Leach is the frontman for a Missouri-based band called Dirty Machine.
Leach’s friend Logan Shackelford is an expert tattoo artist and was the obvious choice to take on the job. Back then, Leach still lived near Hollywood and had to return there the following day, which meant the tattoo was inked in one sitting, Leach got through the 16 hours of pain thanks to energy drinks and gritted teeth.
He didn’t realize at the time that Mahomes would ever even get to see it.
“I’ve actually seen a couple of tattoos (of me),” Mahomes told me. “I would never do it, but Chiefs Kingdom is special. I have seen some Travis Kelces as well and even some Andy Reids.”
There are now numerous Chiefs’ inspired tattoos in the Kansas City area, but what makes Leach stand out is that his Champ Stamp came before Mahomes was even an official NFL champ. The work was carried out prior to the 2018 season’s playoff run, and the story might have ended there, had fate not intervened.
The following summer, after Mahomes had come close to beating the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, he was the league’s new flavor of the month, and made the rounds of appearances on national chat shows.
The Champ Stamp was autographed by Patrick Mahomes himself on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
Before Mahomes was due to sit with Jimmy Kimmel, Leach and his tattoo came to the attention of Kimmel’s producers, who had Leach in the front row for the QB’s time on set. Mahomes was encouraged to autograph Leach’s lower back live on camera. Leach went across the street in West Hollywood to a much cheaper tattoo shop that the one he’d used in Missouri, and had the signature scratched into his skin before the ink could wear off.
Leach would always go back frequently to K.C. but he moved there full-time during COVID and now attends a handful of games per season. The Chiefs win a lot, but it is still remarkable that each time Leach — and the Champ Stamp — have been in the building, the team has won.
The tattoo and the story have gotten him known and recognized locally. Kelce was completely enamored with Leach’s story when Mahomes spoke about it on Kelce’s podcast. Other players are aware of the fable.
“That’s crazy,” running back Jerick McKinnon said. “If anyone has my face tattooed above their butt, well, I appreciate the love. It is really cool. The fans make the game. That’s who we do it for.”
Leach’s most recent game was the AFC Championship, so his streak of victories was almost broken. While Mahomes was hobbling on a bad ankle, Leach had spent heavily on front-row seats and was photographed turning around and holding up his jersey.
“It is a fun thing, and people like it,” Leach added. “The wild thing is that sometimes it’s the other team’s fans who love it the most. When the photographers wanted to take photos during the AFC Championship, it was a Bengals die-hard guy who was lifting up my jersey to help me.”
Chiefs fans believe in the power of the Stamp.
Now comes the rub.
Leach loves the Chiefs like nothing else, but the AFC Championship ticket put a major hole in Leach’s wallet. He doesn’t expect everyone to buy that he is the lucky charm, but he certainly believes it.
So, he has been trying to come up with creative ways to get himself to Phoenix for the game, though the local press hasn’t been quite as interested as those from further afield. Mexican television did a feature story, but as of Thursday morning there had been no offers to help get him to Arizona or find him a place to stay at non-Super Bowl prices. But it’s not done yet.
“Don’t count me out,” Leach said. “If you’re crazy enough to get a guy’s face tattooed on you for your team, you’re crazy enough to find some way of getting to the Super Bowl.”
