Kansas City Chiefs mascot KC Wolf came to Sedalia Wednesday and made two public appearances: one at Horace Mann and one at Washington Elementary. And he brought with him with a positive message of success.

The ABC of Success was his theme. A for Attitude, B for Behavior and C for Character. He added that you choose to be either a buzzard (looking for roadkill, or the all the negative aspects of a person) or a bee (looking for honey and nectar, or all the positive aspects of your fellow human beings).

KC Wolf gladly posed for photos with teachers and high-fived smiling students as they were entering the school cafeteria Wednesday afternoon for the assembly.

Dan Mears is the man inside the suit, and after he delighted the student body (and staff) with his hilarious antics at the start of his program at Washington, he showed them a video of all the exciting things he gets to do as the official mascot of the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium and various places around the world.

Mears has worn the gray fur suit of KC Wolf for 27 years, a fun job he doesn't plan to relinquish anytime soon. "I intend to" when asked if he plans to keep going as the Chiefs most recognizable face and body (with 85-inch hips). "I tell people, as long as they keep making ibuprofen, I think I'm OK. If they ever quit making that, I'm in big trouble," he smiled. "But kids are fun."

He remembers a middle school in Kansas where he appeared recently and the principal recalled that he has seen KC Wolf at his school as a fourth grader. "It makes me feel old," Mears said. "But it's fun. The best part of this job is relationships. It sounds crazy, but you know, I've been to hundreds of football games, and got to travel all over the world and meet a lot of interesting people, but honestly the best part of the job is the relationships with people. Teachers, principals, football players, etc."

As for his own sports career (he played baseball, basketball and football), Mears laughs out loud. "I tell people I was a three-sport bench warmer. I sat on the bench a lot, then turned around and had a 27-year NFL career. Not many can say that."

Whenever he gets down time, KC Wolf spends time with his family. He's been married for 23 years to a "fox" and says he joked that he doesn't hug the KC cheerleaders nearly as much as he used to. "I like to hang out with my family and kids, that's my favorite thing to do," he said.

"My oldest child is 20 now, she's junior in college, she goes to Southwest Baptist in Bolivar. My son, 18, is a baseball player and he plays for Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kansas. And then my youngest daughter is a sophomore in high school and she plays volleyball," Mears said.

When asked if he was proud of his kids, he replied, "I am, I like 'em a whole lot!"

Before his long tenure as KC's chief mascot, Mears spent time in St. Louis as Fredbird, the Cardinals' mascot. And before that, he was MU's Tiger mascot, and he has plenty of photos to prove it.

KC Wolf's 45-minute appearance at Washington was sponsored by the school's PTA, according to Washington Principal Lisa Volk.

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