When the National Football League tees up the pigskin this fall, Washington native James Winchester will be starting his 10th season with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Working on a dynasty, the Chiefs have played in four of the last five Super Bowls winning in 2020, 2023 and 2024 and have their sights set for 2025.

Their 11-6 record in 2024 was the worst of their three championship seasons, winning 14 games in both 2020 and 2023.

They turned the season this year against Miami in the wildcard round and then won road playoff games at Buffalo and Baltimore, setting up the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers.

“You’re never the same team in September as you are in January,” Winchester said. “We played lights out the last five games of the season.

“We lost to the Raiders on Christmas Day,” Winchester recalled. “That was a low spot. You start wondering if you can turn it around.

“We had some miss opportunities in the loss at Denver. That hurt pretty bad. It was ugly on our part. We couldn’t fire on all cylinders. Then against Miami we put it all together,” he said.

Winchester said internally the Chiefs never lost it.

“We just kept the faith in the building starting with coach (Andy) Reid on down,” the former OU Sooner and Washington Warrior said.

Winchester was asked what affect the whole Taylor Swift frenzy had on the team.

“Not really any affect at all,” he said. “If anything, it was positive. Once we got to Chicago and she actually showed up for a game from then on she was our greatest supporter.

“She is a genuinely good person and she was all in,” Winchester continued. “She was excited to be all in for the ride. It was a neat phenomenon. We were already the most hated team in the NFL so we said ‘just bring it on’.”

Winchester, who graduated from OU in 2012, said “Swift celebrated with the team in Las Vegas at the after party after we won it. I think those two, Swift and Travis Kelce, are a good match. All the guys couldn’t be happier for them,” he said.

Winchester’s favorite memory of playing in the NFL are the three Super Bowl Championships.

“That’s always something special. It’s something I never thought I’d be a part of,” he said.

After winning three titles, plus playing in a fourth Super Bowl, a 31-9 loss at the hands of Tampa Bay in 2021, Winchester has been to the top of the mountain.

Even though Winchester has some workout equipment in his garage, he does most of his off-season work in the confines of retired Kansas City fullback Anthony Sherman’s house.

“He and his wife built a forever home and he has a very nice workout room far better than my garage,” Winchester said with a laugh.

Sherman lives near where James, Emily and children Jase, Rylee and Collins live on a small farm outside of Overland Park, KS.

“It really seems like Washington,” Winchester said recalling his growing up in McClain County.

Winchester said the team is a tight-knit group but he doesn’t hang out socially much with them.

“The dynamic has all changed,” he said. “When you start out all the guys are the same age. When you get to my age you’re the oldest guy on the team.

“I don’t feel like it,” said the 34-year-old, “but in our business you are an old guy because most of the guys are 21 and 22-years-old. And, I’m a family guy first like my Dad was. There are some of the guys that have kids and we see them some.

“We get the job done on the field and then everyone leaves the locker room to live their lives,” the long snapper said.

The fleet-footed Winchester once expressed an interest in playing some wide receiver for the Sooners but then head coach Bob Stoops quickly poured ice cold water on that idea, saying James was much too valuable as a long snapper for his Sooners and that he couldn’t risk him getting a hand injury.

And speaking of Stoops, Winchester has plenty of his fellow Sooners on the Kansas City roster.

They include Creed Humphrey, Blake Bell, Wanya Morris, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Jamell Fleming.

“It’s fun to have Sooners on the roster,” he confirmed. “As long as we have more Sooners than Longhorns I’m happy.

“It’s a huge blessing to still be taking the field,” Winchester said. “It’s more than I could ever ask for. It’s incredible but you never achieve something alone.

“The people in Purcell, Washington and Norman had a huge impact on my life and I think about them often. That will always be home.”

Winchester was in the Carolinas when the tornado ripped through Sulphur, Marietta and Holdenville.

“The one that hit Marietta just barely missed my grandparents and aunts and uncles’ houses,” Winchester said.

“Tornados are bad enough but at night it’s even worse,” he confirmed. “I was watching the radar that night very closely.”