By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan says the team is excited to be back in St. Joseph; excited to be Super Bowl champs; excited to be back-to-back Super Bowl champs.
Donovan says the players are ready to prepare for another season and the possibility of a three-peat.
“They’re excited to be back and they’re excited to be back in St. Joe who just treat us so well every single year,” Donovan tells reporters during a news conference. “There’s a reason we keep coming back. It’s a combination of the support that we got in 2010, when we partnered with the state of Missouri, Missouri Western, the city of St. Joe, the Convention and Visitors Bureau to make this a reality.”
Later this year, former state Sen. Charlie Shields and former Missouri Western State University Board of Governors chair Dirck Clark will be inducted into the St. Joseph Sports Hall of Fame for one reason. Both played an instrumental role in convincing the Kansas City Chiefs to leave River Falls, Wisconsin and move the team’s training camp to St. Joseph.
“I would say this: without Charlie Shields and without Dirck Clark we are not here today,” Donovan says. “That’s as simple as I can put it. Their support, especially on the front end, was critical to getting this done.”
Donovan says the negotiations were complex and involved many changes on the Missouri Western State University campus. Donovan credits both with following through on those complex negotiations necessary to uproot and move training camp.
“When it’s something brand new, that hasn’t been done before, that includes a lot more than just – okay what dates do you need the facilities? It includes building those fields out there. It includes putting a deal together that makes sense to put an indoor facility here that not only benefits the team when they’re here and makes it really efficient for us from a training camp perspective. It creates added value to the university for recruiting standpoint for their teams, but also from their student experience,” according to Donovan.
Donovan’s first year with the Chiefs was the last year the team held training camp in River Falls. Donovan says the success the team has had since making the move proves St. Joseph has been a good fit.
The Chiefs are one of only a few NFL teams to hold training camp away from home.
“It’s a part of our culture. It’s a part of our experience. We hope to continue that,” Donovan says. “This year, specifically, we’ll have 19 practices open to our fans. That’s the most in the National Football League. We’re proud of that.”
Donovan says the NFL club expects record crowds this year. Reservations are already up 30% over last year, which was a record year.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.