Young Chiefs fans recount experience meeting players
By Chris Fortune
Some kids are lucky enough to meet their Chiefs favorite players at training camp, but others find luck in different places.
Chiefs training camp entered its third week at Missouri Western State University, and it continues to thrill kids who come to see their favorite players and enjoy football-themed activities. However, the opportunity to meet them and receive autographs gives them memories for a lifetime.
One fan met Harrison Butker, the highest-paid kicker in the NFL as of Monday, when he was at school.
“It was nice to meet him,” Caiden Schultz said. “I was so glad that I got to meet him.”
Another young Chiefs fan shook hands with Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, at the Super Bowl 58 championship parade earlier in the year.
“It was pretty cool, and it smelled like he had cologne on,” Mollie Docman said. “We were throwing like a football around before (the parade) started for a long time, and I signed my name on it because I got it once, and then I threw it at Mahomes, but he didn’t get it and hit the truck instead.”
One boy met Mecole Hardman, who made the game-winning catch in Super Bowl 58, when he came to his father’s police station for a tour.
“We walked up to a car — I thought it was just a stranger,” Brock Beck said. “Then Mecole rolled his window down, and I was like, ‘Dad, is that Mecole Hardman or Juju Smith-Schuster, and he was like, Mecole.’ Then we walked in, did a tour, and at the end, he signed my ball.”
Beck’s friend and neighbor met Chiefs great Jamaal Charles by accidentally wandering into an area where fans weren’t allowed, but the experience ended well for him.
“I kind of snuck up on him,” Rueger Parmenter said. “I went past the thing, and I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to, and he gave me a handshake, and I got to talk to him a little.”
Some fans, like Zielle Dydell, were lucky enough to meet players at training camp Tuesday as players took to the practice fields.
“I met Isiah Pacheco and Patrick Mahomes,” he said. “They were walking up, and I got my football signed, and I got a handshake with them.”
Chiefs training camp will continue until Aug. 15, giving even more fans a chance to meet the reigning Super Bowl champions.
