Kansas City, we did that. It wasn’t just Chiefs fans having a blast at the NFL Draft | Opinion

Kansas City’s 2023 NFL Draft is in the books.

On Saturday, the three-day extravaganza came to an end. One thing is for sure: This town knows how to throw a party.

Over the last few days, we spoke to several folks who had positive things to say about our city’s collective skills as host. It was a community effort to pull off such a massively successful event.

All weekend, the spotlight was on us. And, boy, did KC deliver. Everyone who calls this place home should beam with civic pride.

As hundreds of football fans from across the country passed through Union Station and the grounds of the National WWI Museum and Memorial in droves, we prodded some of them to share their thoughts on their experience in our city.

It would be impossible to check the pulse of the hundreds of thousands of people who attended the family-friendly events that showcased everything Kansas City has to offer and more.

But we tried.

Riding the KC Streetcar, we tracked a massive crowd from the River Market to the Crossroads. From there, we followed hundreds of football lovers to Union Station to kick off one of the NFL’s premiere events.

We spotted people wearing jerseys of their favorite teams. We spoke with Kansas Citians who claim teams other than the hometown Chiefs as their own. And out-of-towners supporting their chosen squads and new draft picks chimed in as well.

Anthony Combs, 33, spent two days here with his wife and six children from Joplin. The family’s loyalties are split among several teams, Combs said. Most are partial to the Philadelphia Eagles but two are Chiefs fans. And one child cheers for both the Chiefs and Eagles

“We’ve got a Chieagles fan,” Combs said.

For Combs and his bunch, Kansas City was the perfect destination for the family’s first draft.

“It was close to home,” Combs said. “It’s been a blast. The kids had fun. They’ve been kicking field goals and running 40-yard dashes” during draft-related activities for children.

Rigo Bocanegra of California was decked out in sunglasses and 49ers gear when we approached him and a friend to ask about their attire. The pair were not the only non-Chiefs fans we ran across. In fact, the beauty of this NFL Draft was the proliferation of football fans from far and wide.

Kansas City is a welcoming place where Bocanegra found the people neighborly.

“I didn’t expect it to be this friendly,” he said. Where have we heard that one before? “Everything was cool,” he added. Everything was nice.”

On Thursday, pop rock superstars Fall Out Boy concluded the opening night festivities with a stellar performance. The next night, 1980s hair band Motley Crue, led by the ageless Vince Neil, graced the humongous stage in front of Union Station. Saturday evening, a short, severe windstorm evacuated the draft site and pushed the scheduled concert from jazz and funk bassist Thundercat back — but the show eventually went on.

Jason Ayala of Kansas City is an unabashed Jets fan. He made no qualms about either during a brief conversation on the second day of the event. He attended the draft, his first, with father, Ralph Ayala.

New draft picks aside, the elder was most stoked about the New York Jets’ recent acquisition of former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“Let’s go, Jets!” Ralph Ayala screamed the way only a Jets fan could.

Even for New York fans, being in Kansas City the last few years has been “pretty cool,” the younger Ayala said. But don’t sleep on the Jets with Rodgers under center, he said. We won’t.

The energy and buzz of the spectacle could not be denied. From the best we could tell, the last three days will not only be a boon to the local economy, as financial experts predict. But we can say with some certainty: Kansas City, we did that. And we all deserve credit in making the city such a warm and accommodating place.