She’s a Chiefs fan. He’s a Titans guy. Fans talk football and fun at Arrowhead Sunday
She’s a Chiefs fan. He’s a Titans guy.
Emily Grey and Holden Richmond, both of Nashville, Tennessee, were among the fans filling the parking lots at Arrowhead Stadium Sunday morning, hours ahead of the AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tennessee Titans.
In a crowd of tailgaters in red and yellow, they were fan-crossed lovers.
“We talked about that,” Richmond said. The 30-year-old Titans fan had driven more than 8 hours from Nashville with his brother and his girlfriend, Grey, a 26-year-old Shawnee native now living in Nashville.
Richmond has already reminded Grey that the Titans defeated the Chiefs in Kansas City back in November. “So she’s not seen the Chiefs beat the Titans since we’ve been together,” he said.
“Today’s the day,” Grey said.
The couple said that no matter what happens, the relationship will survive. “Some days are harder than others,” said Grey, who predicted a 34-28 Chiefs victory — the inverse of Richmond, who said he had a “nine out of 10” level of confidence that the Titans would win.
“I’m 10 out of 10,” Grey said of the Chiefs.
Bundled up in winter coats, they and other fans endured what the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill called the coldest temperatures of the season. In fact, AFC Championship game on Sunday may be one of coldest playoff contests in Chiefs history.
The weather service said those headed outside should expect temperatures to still be the mid-teens at 10 a.m., with wind chills around 1 degree.
Temps at kickoff, just after 2 p.m., will have warmed to around 20 degrees with wind chills around 8 degrees. By 6 p.m., temps will have returned to the mid-teens.
The cold, of course, didn’t dissuade fans who have been tailgating at Arrowhead for decades and on Sunday awaited a historic moment for the team to reach the Super Bowl again. It was a time to recall friendships formed through years of football.
Fifteen people huddled beneath one tent and raised cheers to the Chiefs.
For more than 30 years, since 1988, Bill Scopp, 63, of Leawood, and his friends have been tailgating on what they call “Fantasy Island” — a tiny slip of grass near Lot F.
There, they have watched their Chiefs’ fortunes rise, but ultimately fall, each year. On Sunday, some 30 people began the day on the “island.”
Randy Tegethoff and friends joined them years back.
“It’s not a fantasy now,” Scopp said, fully confident that the Chiefs, under quarterback Patrick Mahomes, would finally, after 50 years, bring them back to the Super Bowl.
“Maybe we should change the name to Reality Island!”
Feet from the island, Kathy Wunneberg, 54, crossed the lot with her friend, Lora Sparkman, 57. The two, both from the St. Louis area, were decked out in Chiefs-red leggings and Mahomes jerseys.
For Wunneberg, this would be her first-ever live Chiefs game. They would be sitting up in the nosebleed seats, having paid $320 a ticket.
No matter.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” Wunnenberg said.
Outside the stadium, the line of vehicles to enter Arrowhead grew longer and longer.
Kickoff time for the game is 2:05 p.m. Check Kansascity.com for more coverage.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 11:48 AM.
