Chiefs plan to stay involved in KC community through Election Day and beyond

Election Day is this Tuesday — and as has been known for a while now, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium will serve as a polling location (more information on that here).

“I’m proud of our guys for having the wherewithal to come up with a plan, and then for our organization, Clark Hunt and Mark Donovan to work with them to get it done,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said on Wednesday. “You don’t see that all the time. That respect for the players and players’ respect for our ownership I think is very important to have. So, to actually have it here, on campus per se, right here at Arrowhead I think is a tremendous tribute to all that were involved in getting it done.”

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and safety Tyrann Mathieu have spearheaded the push since the summer, partnering with Rise to Vote to ensure that their teammates — and their fans — were registered. Mathieu hosted a voter registration event in mid-September at Kansas City’s Union Station.

Asked about his post-election community efforts on Wednesday, Mahomes described an upcoming meeting with the franchise’s team president.

“We actually are going to be able to meet with Mark (Donovan) here either this week or next week to continue to strive to get more black-owned businesses the support they need and just to continue to get the conversation going until election day and even past that with different things we can help out the community with,” said Mahomes. “Having as many people vote is obviously the first step of right now with how important this election is, but the next step is to continue to help out our community and help out the people that need the help the most.

“I think the biggest thing is keeping the conversation going and then going out and taking action. I think with this meeting that we’re going to have with Mark, he’s already had a lot of great ideas that he’s learned from people in the community that are out there first-hand and making change happen. As the Chiefs, as an organization, go in with our players and do whatever we can to help improve and impact those communities and help out as many people as possible.”

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce plans to continue his off-the-field work with his charity, “Eighty-Seven & Running.” Right after signing his contract extension — likely making him a Chief for life — Kelce announced a STEM lab with underserved neighborhoods in mind.

Kelce noted that it’s up to each of his Chiefs teammates as to what they feel comfortable in doing.

“What I tend to feel more comfortable with is attacking the youth,” said Kelce, “and making sure that systemic racism is eliminated and try to give the advantages to the inner-city, to a lot of the minorities that don’t have those advantages and don’t have that much effort being given to them, that focus being given to them.

“That’s why you see me out in the Kansas City area trying to help as many kids as I can, trying to hit these areas that have poverty.

Making sure you are represented in the election is critical, as the Chiefs player-leaders have expressed for months now. But they also deserve credit for plans now in the works that will expand beyond that singular event.