Kansas City Chiefs’ Clark Hunt wants training camp in St. Joe, full stands for games
The NFL hasn’t given the green light yet.
But if the Chiefs were the decision-makers about where they will hold training camp this summer, it wouldn’t be at the team’s Arrowhead Stadium training facility, like it was in 2020.
“Our hope and our mindset is that we will be in (St. Joseph, Missouri) for camp this year,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said Saturday. “That is something that the NFL has still not made a decision on.
“I know they’ll have to have some discussions with the union on the protocols that will be surrounding camp, so we probably won’t know here for a month-plus. But we certainly want to be back up in St. Joe.”
The COVID-19 pandemic last year prompted the Chiefs to shelve its annual training camp at Missouri Western State University, which had previously hosted the team every summer since 2010.
Instead, the Chiefs held an abbreviated training camp under strict safety protocols, without daily fan attendance, at their KC training facility.
Hunt said spending the late-summer months in St. Joseph provides a unique experience for the entire team.
“I think the team gets a lot out of being together in the dormitories, eating their meals together,” he said.
And if there are approved safety protocols in place ahead of late July, Hunt also wouldn’t mind seeing spectators fill the seats surrounding the two practice fields.
“I certainly hope that we’ll be able to have fans in St. Joe,” he said.
Hunt’s hope that fans will be able to attend isn’t limited to training camp. Last year, the Chiefs were among NFL teams that allowed fan attendance at home games under limited capacity. For Arrowhead Stadium, which can seat 76,416, only 22 percent of that maximum capacity was allowed, in accordance with county, city and state safety guidelines.
But with COVID-19 restrictions gradually loosening in the greater Kansas City metro and around the country, Hunt sees a future in which the Chiefs will play home games in front of capacity crowds.
“There are a lot of hurdles that have to be jumped over between now and then,” Hunt said. “It will be different in different states, different markets.
“We’ll be working with the health department here in Kansas City to figure out what’s safe when we get to the season. The league also will have some discussions with the union in terms of the protocols relating to separating fans from the players.
“So, there’s a lot of work to be done, but our mindset and mentality right now is we’re going to be at 100 percent.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 4:17 PM.
