On his 9th birthday, Curt Herrman received his first Kansas City Chiefs item: a 1970 Super Bowl football. Little did he know that one birthday gift would turn into a Guinness World Record.
“Every birthday, holiday or special occasion after that, family, friends, everybody would buy me Chiefs stuff,” Herrman said. “It started out that way, and as I got married and had children I just kept buying cheap stuff.”
While most of it was kept in storage for the duration of his collecting, it wasn’t until Herrman’s wife said to stop buying things that Herrman decided to pull out his collection and see how much of a stockpile he had.
“I’m in an IT type profession, so it was kind of a natural thing for me once I got all my stuff out,” Herrman said. “I was taking pictures, putting it on an internet database, then hanging it up in my basement.”
The original plan to organize and sort turned into a lavish Chiefs-decorated basement. From fidget spinners to earrings to statues, Herrman has it all.
He said when friends and family entered the basement to watch a Chiefs game and saw the memorabilia, the typical response was, “Wow. You’ve got more Chiefs stuff than anybody I’ve ever seen.”
Herrman decided to look into that fact and went to check the Guinness World Records website. Seeing that there was no record for a Chiefs memorabilia collection, he decided to work to make that title his.
“The process took two years to get the record,” he said. “It would’ve cost $5,000 to have someone from Guinness come and authenticate it.”
Instead of paying a hefty fee, Herrman chose the alternate route. The application and authentication process to do it yourself included filling out loads of paperwork, taking pictures of every item and putting together a video to showcase every item in one go.
Wanting to include more of the community, Herrman used outside resources to help him create the video.
“I called the local high school video production class to help me make the video,” he said. “They got class credit for it, and I got authenticated for the record.”
To confirm the number of items in his collection, the video had to follow specific guidelines.
“I had to have three witnesses standing behind me,” he said. “A police officer, a public elected official, and an accountant. They all stood there and watched me walk around counting from one all the way to 1,323.”
Herrman has received local and national attention for his collection, often receiving Chiefs memorabilia or a note of admiration.
“In the last few years I’ve probably gotten over 500 things,” Herrman said. “It’s really interesting because I’ll get something every two to three days with a note that’ll say, ‘I’m tired of dusting this’ or, ‘I wanted to make sure it’ll go to somebody who would appreciate it.’”
His hobby extends far beyond Manhattan, too. The most impactful story from being gifted collection items was from someone he’d never even met. Herrman received a call from the son of a mother who just passed away. She was a Chiefs collector who had about 600 items and left it in her will that Herrman would receive the collection.
The Chiefs Ambassadors, comprised of former players and fundraisers, have reached out to Herrman. He was presented with a special ball in honor of his collection, and even got to hold and take a picture with the Chiefs 2020 Super Bowl trophy.
“That was kind of a lifetime achievement for me,” Herrman said. “They won when I was 9 years old in Super Bowl 4 [1970]. I had to wait 50 years, a lifetime, to see them win another Super Bowl.”
Throughout this journey, Herrman has created a full website, Chiefseum, showcasing his Chiefs items as if it were a museum. A recent addition is his YouTube channel, highlighting “from the vault” items and fun facts.
Herrman has already reapplied to increase the memorabilia count stated on the record. This time around, it will cost $500 to recertify and license the record in his name. His collection count is currently 2,651, more than double his original record.
Although Herrman has received a lot of attention and recognition, he wants to acknowledge the community within Chiefs Kingdom.
“A lot of people will say, ‘Well, boy, you’re the biggest Chiefs fan,’” Herrman said. “I’m not taking credit for that because there’s a lot of Chiefs fans in Chiefs Kingdom; I’m just one among many.”
