After back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 2023 and 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to make NFL history this season as the first team to win three consecutive championships.
But the league’s most dominant team in recent years — led by Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid — know they can’t pull off the unprecedented streak without fully committing to their well-known work ethic.
That includes following rules set by both the NFL and the Chiefs organization — including a particularly puzzling regulation put in place by Reid.
Here are 10 rules Chiefs players must follow that you might not have known:
Players have an 11 p.m. curfew the night before games
On the night before games — both home and away — players are required to adhere to a curfew. Chariah Gordon, whose fiancé is Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr., told PEOPLE, “Yeah, they have a curfew. Each game, they have to be in by 11:00.”
Players from other NFL teams have spoken about the league’s curfew in previous years. A former Dallas Cowboys player said the organization put a midnight curfew into place for the night before games, while Sterling Shepard of the New York Giants told the New York Times last year that their curfew is typically set at 10 p.m.
Per the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, “Any material curfew violation the night prior to the Club’s game may be considered conduct detrimental to the Club upon player’s first offense.”
Significant others have to stay in separate hotel rooms
While players’ significant others are allowed to attend games, Gordon told PEOPLE that the Chiefs are “strict” about prohibiting players from sharing a hotel room with their significant other on the night before a game.
“Ain’t no staying in no same room,” Gordon said.
Players are prohibited from drinking alcohol the night before games
Extended downtime on the road might seem like an opportune time for players to enjoy luxe dinners and nightlife in the away cities, but players are strictly prohibited from consuming alcohol on the night before a game.
“The ship is tight over here,” said Gordon, revealing that it’s often the wives and girlfriends of players who get to enjoy the host city.
“But the girls, we get together. We’re like, ‘Hey, do you want to do dinner? Are we going to go out? What do you want to do?’ So, we do the partying for them.”
Players have to get on the team plane right after away games — and WAGs can’t tag along
Regardless of their significant other’s travel plans after a game, Chiefs players are required to travel to and from their away games with the team. “They leave by themselves,” Jayla Thornton-Cook, wife to Chiefs safety Bryan Cook told PEOPLE.
“You’re more than welcome to go to a game and you can see them after, and then they’re getting right back on the flight and they’re coming right back home that night,” said Thornton-Cook, a former basketball player at George Washington University.
Black cleats are prohibited in the Chiefs’ locker room
While players and teams are required to follow the NFL’s official code of conduct, each team can enforce its own rules for players.
In October, defensive tackle Chris Jones told Rich Eisen that there are “little things that we follow” that are specific to the Chiefs organization. “Like, something as simple as, we don’t wear black cleats.”
Jones, 30, said he’s not sure why that particular dress code regulation is enforced. “Listen, I don’t know… I just work here,” Jones told Eisen, adding, “I don’t make the rules.”
Uniforms must be worn properly
This one’s a league-wide rule in the NFL, per the official rule book, that players on all 32 teams must follow.
Per NFL Operations, all players must tuck in their jerseys when they take the field. Additionally, wearing bandanas is prohibited.
Even their stockings, or leggings, have specific requirements. “Stockings must be white from the top of the shoe to mid-calf and an approved team color from mid-calf to the bottom of the pant leg, which must be pulled down below the knee,” per NFL Operations.
Tardiness — even by one minute — can result in fines
Players are required to be on time for team events and lateness, even by a single minute, can result in a fine.
In 2023, ESPN’s NFL reporter Todd Archer said, “Per the CBA, an unexcused late reporting or absence from training camp by a player under contract faces a fine of $50,000 per day.”
Additionally, Archer reported that those fines “shall not be reduced in amount or waived by the team” despite teams “eventually” waiving player fines in past holdouts.
Players are truly off during bye weeks
According to the official rules, players are given a mandatory minimum of four days off during bye weeks. “Such four-day period must include a Saturday and a Sunday unless the Club is scheduled to play a game on the Thursday following the bye week, in which case players may be required to report to the Club on the Sunday preceding the Thursday game,” the rules state.
Gordon told PEOPLE the same, confirming, “They are completely off. They don’t have to do anything unless they have treatment.
