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BBQ vs. Cuban sandwiches: Cleaver and Davids make Super Bowl wager with Florida Dems

February 3, 2021

Kansas City area Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Sharice Davids savored California chocolate last year after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl.

This year, they're hoping for Cuban sandwiches.

Cleaver, D-Missouri, and Davids, D-Kansas, have once again put Kansas City barbecue on the line as the Chiefs to look to repeat as Super Bowl champions when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday.

The Democrats from both sides of the state line have made a wager with Tampa area Reps. Kathy Castor and Charlie Crist.

"Chiefs Kingdom has been ready to Run It Back since last February, and the only way we fail to do so is if we miss the bus to the game on Sunday afternoon," Cleaver said.

Cleaver has put up Gates Bar-B-Q, a Missouri favorite the congressman has long championed, while Davids has bet fare from Joe's Kansas City, the iconic restaurant on the Kansas side of the metro.

If the Chiefs win, the Florida Democrats will owe Cleaver and Davids local specialties of Latin guava pastries, flan and Cuban sandwiches.

This year's bet also includes a new, less tasty provision. Losers will have to wear COVID-19 masks with the logo of the winning team on the House floor, a pandemic-era stipulation that was not in the wager Cleaver and Davids made last year with California Democrats.

Crist, a former Florida governor, predicted the Bucs would pull off a victory on their home field as Tampa hosts this year's Super Bowl.

"Beating the reigning champs on our own home turf, I couldn't imagine a more incredible scenario," Crist said. "I hope my esteemed colleagues from Kansas City are ready to rock the right shade of red on the House floor."

Cleaver predicted a repeat by the Chiefs in February of last year after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid him with chocolates and other San Francisco treats when Kansas City defeated the San Francisco 49ers.

After the Chiefs won the AFC championship last month, Cleaver predicted a 40-18 victory against the Bucs and took a shot at the NFC champs' 43-year-old quarterback, Tom Brady.

"I mean, these guys are not in the same league as the Chiefs. I know people are talking about Brady, but I think on Thursday he goes to his first AARP meeting," Cleaver, 76, said of the quarterback who won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots before coming to Tampa.

Cleaver said in a statement Wednesday that the only thing he'll "savor more than a second Lombardi trophy is the delectable desserts provided by my good friends, Reps. Castor and Crist."

Castor pointed to the Tampa Bay Lightning's recent Stanley Cup victory to declare Tampa as the "City of Champions."

But Davids maintained that Kansas City had exclusive claim to that title as the home of the defending Super Bowl champs.

"I would never want to bet against Patrick Mahomes and the City of Champions," Davids said. "Kansas City is ready to run it back and bring home another Super Bowl trophy, which will be made even sweeter by desserts from Tampa Bay."