NFL Draft is being conducted from homes, but that doesn’t mean KC can’t tailgate
Kansas City is shut in, but Mayor Quinton Lucas doesn’t want to see the city shut out during the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday.
Lucas called for Chiefs fans and Kansas Citians to celebrate the draft with a “tailgate unlike any before seen in Kansas City and throughout the country.”
What could that look like during the COVID-19 pandemic?
For starters, respect local municipalities’ stay-at-home orders, which for KC last week was extended until May 15. But tailgate from home by purchasing food from local restaurants and grocery stores. As Lucas was speaking Monday morning, a family was grilling in their front yard.
“A few things we’re trying to make sure we do,” Lucas said. “One, we support our stay-at-home effort. The second is we’re going to make sure we support Kansas City businesses. We know this has been a tough time for lots of businesses in and around our city and so do what you can to provide support.”
Kansas City is scheduled to host the NFL Draft in 2023.
This year’s event, scheduled initially for Las Vegas, was altered because of the pandemic. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will oversee Thursday’s first round from his home in Westchester, N.Y. Personnel from the teams will be at their homes making draft-day decisions through the seven rounds that conclude on Saturday.
The NFL Draft will be one of the first live major sporting events to take place since mid-March, when leagues, tournaments and championships were suspended, postponed or canceled because of the pandemic.
“Frankly, there weren’t really many alternatives,” Goodell told the NFL Network Friday. “If we were delaying this, when were we delaying it till? What are the solutions? We needed to move forward, and we needed to do it differently.
“I think that’s the key thing. We are doing this draft differently. That leads to some anxiety, and I understand that, but I think our clubs are adapting really well.”