23 February 2023
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A wayward skeleton made his way home after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade.
During the parade, a skeleton from graphic design business REACTOR Design Studio was on display in front of the building, and Chiefs receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette politely borrowed it.
In a video, Smith-Marsette said he would bring the skeleton back, but he didn’t return it the day of the parade.
Three days later, the 23-year-old tweeted a picture of the skeleton in the backseat of his car and said he was looking to return it safely.
A week later, he came through on his promise.
The Newark, New Jersey, native said he walked off the team bus, and his teammates urged him to get the skeleton.
Smith-Marsette said the young woman who took the video, Mallory Mong, contacted him the next day asking him to bring the skeleton back. Family and friends also persisted that he return the skeleton once it got media coverage.
“If it was up to me, they not getting the skeleton back,” he said jokingly after returning the skeleton.
Once the receiver returned the skeleton, REACTOR Design Studio owner Clifton Alexander gifted him with pictures of Smith-Marsette with the skeleton during the parade.
“God puts things in place for a certain reason. I got to meet these wonderful people, find out about [their] shop,” Smith-Marsette said.
“Just to be able to come back and give the skeleton back and also receive gifts, that just goes to show you the type of people KC is made of and I’m happy to be here.”
The Iowa alum even signed the skeleton as well.
Alexander said he had no issue with the former Bears receiver taking the skeleton, named Skelly, that was first in the building for Halloween decorations. Alexander’s friend and Mallory’s father, Grant Mong, had the idea to put the skeleton out front during the parade, and the fun took off from there.
“It’s just a really fun thing, a random thing that happened,” Alexander said. “We’ve been laughing about it, having a good time. Ihmir was a great sport and has been a great guy. Hope he does some good stuff with the Chiefs. We love having guys like that around.”
Alexander has had his business for 20 years and set up shop in his location on Grand Boulevard around 2013. In that time, he’s relished in the success of Kansas City’s sports teams, like watching the Royals’ World Series parade in 2015 and two Chiefs Super Bowl parades.
Fun stories like this, Alexander said, show the heart of the passionate fanbase known as Chiefs Kingdom.
“Doesn’t matter if you’re the starter or not, we love them all,” he said. “So he’ll feel the love from Chiefs Kingdom for hopefully years to come.”