With the way things ended with Jared Allen in Kansas City I didn’t expect to see him back here anytime but the Kansas City Chiefs are saying Allen will be back at Arrowhead this weekend for the Chiefs home opener to bang the drum before the game.
The Chiefs will also be honoring fallen police officers from the area as well as first responders throughout the region as the game lands on the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Jared Allen has also done a lot with wounded veterans so I see the connection.
Here’s a press release from the Chiefs with all the plans:
Sunday’s 2016 home opener marks the 15th anniversary since the terrorist attacks that stunned the country on September 11, 2001. In addition to remembering all those who were lost on that day and in the resulting conflicts in the years following the attacks, the Kansas City Chiefs are also recognizing all first responders who serve the communities we call home.
Hesston, Kansas, Police Chief Doug Schroeder will carry an American flag to lead the Chiefs out of the tunnel and onto the field. In February, Schroeder heroically confronted and stopped a mass shooter at a Hesston, Kansas, manufacturing plant by entering the facility by himself before the shooter could inflict more harm on innocent employees. During the game, Schroeder will be honored as the game’s Hometown Hero.
Neal Wilson, a Kansas City Fire Department EMT will join Kansas City Ambassador Anthony Davis to throw out the game’s First Pass presented by Blue KC. Six representatives of the Kansas City Fire Department will participate in the Coca-Cola Coin Toss. After the coin toss, a presidential video message will play in-stadium, followed by a moment of silence in remembrance of the anniversary of the attacks on the country.
During the national anthem, 150 first responders – representing police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians from throughout Chiefs Kingdom – will be on the sideline and will hold a field-sized American flag during the national anthem. A 10-person joint forces color guard from the Kansas City Police and Kansas City Fire Departments will present the colors during the national anthem. At the conclusion of the Star-Spangled Banner, a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber from the 509th Bomb Wing, based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri, will conduct a flyover of Arrowhead Stadium (weather permitting).
During the first quarter, the families of Detective Brad Lancaster and Captain Robert Melton of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department will be recognized on the field. Detective Lancaster and Captain Melton were both killed in the line of duty this year.
At halftime, retired U.S. Navy Petty Officer Generald Wilson will perform his rendition of "God Bless America" while red, white and blue stars will be presented on the field by 50 local first responders. Following the performance, The United States Navy Parachute Team "The Leap Frogs" will parachute into Arrowhead Stadium. "The Leap Frogs" group is the official parachute demonstration team of the United States Navy. Part of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, the team is made up of active-duty Navy SEALs, Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) and support personnel. The team is sanctioned by the Department of Defense and recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration.
In the second half of the game, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Shannon from Whiteman Air Force Base will be recognized during the game’s Salute to Service honoree. Shannon, an Atchison, Kansas, native, serves as the Wing Chaplain for the 509th Bomb Wing and has been deployed three times between 2004 and 2015. He is responsible for the oversight of all religious programs and services for the 509th and supervises a staff of chaplains, ensuring the free exercise of religion and promoting the spiritual, ethical and moral health of all service members assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base.
In the fourth quarter, retired Independence Police Chief Tom Dailey will be recognized as the Tony DiPardo Spirit Leader. Dailey took over as chief of police in Independence in 2008 after serving 27 years with the Kansas City Police Department. Before retiring this past July, he had served on the executive committee of the Kansas City Regional Terrorism Early Warning Center, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Mid-America Regional Council’s Regional Homeland Security Coordinating Committee.