Chiefs fans make trek to Houston to watch season opener and leave happy

Red and gold Chiefs jerseys had a noticeable foothold against the home team’s sea of red, white and blue Sunday as Chiefs fans from near and far converged on NRG Stadium for the season-opener against the Texans.

And astute readers of The Star might’ve noticed a familiar pair of faces in the minority of Chiefs faithful.

Cheering on the visiting team, which got up early and maintained its lead in beating the Texans 27-20, was the mother-daughter duo of Vicki and Jenni Gillespie.

Vicki, a Kansas City native who now lives in Sikeston, Mo. (located in the bootheel of the state), flew to see the Chiefs open their season in person.

She and daughter Jenni, who’s in residency to be an obstetrician and gynecologist at Houston’s renowned Medical Center, were seated close to the corner of the stadium where the Chiefs ran out onto the field Sunday.

As she and her mom cheered every Kansas City player, Jenni said it’s not the first time they’d been noticed by their hometown paper.

“When the Chiefs played here in 1994, they played the Oilers, and we were pictured on the front page,” Jenni said. “I was 6, maybe 7.”

The Gillespies weren’t the only Chiefs fans who made Sunday’s game a family affair.

Terrie Gornet sat with her daughter, a Texans fan, while her son cheered alongside fellow Chiefs fans.

“My family had season tickets when I was growing up,” said Gornet, who now lives in Houston. “We actually had (Chiefs) season tickets at Municipal Stadium.

“Me and my dad used to go all the time. I have really great memories of going to Chiefs games all bundled up. We’d leave and my mom would say, ‘Why are you going to the game? It’s 10 degrees!’”

George McWilliams of Olathe and his son, Jordan, 12, started what they hope will be an annual tradition by attending Sunday’s game.

“This is our first father-and-son game,” the elder McWlliams said. “He’s old enough to be able to get out and enjoy the game. We’re big Chiefs fans. We’re starting our annual father-and-son journey here in Houston.”

Husband and wife Keith and Jeannie McLin made a relatively short trip west from their home in Louisiana to see the Chiefs, who Jeannie fell in love with while attending Missouri.

“There are tons of Chiefs fans here, and it’s awesome,” she said. “If you’re a fan, you’re a fan, and you don’t switch. You stay a fan.”

Some Chiefs fans at Sunday’s game traveled in from nearer locales. Alex North, a Kansas City native who attended Lee’s Summit High and now works for Amazon in Dallas, waited in a line to meet a couple of Texans cheerleaders.

“I’m a die-hard Chiefs fan,” he said. “I’m just waiting for us to get into the Super Bowl again.”

It was a fool’s bet on Sunday to say the Chiefs couldn’t get back to football’s grandest stage.

With several minutes still left in the game, and most Texans fans long gone from NRG Stadium, Chiefs fans streamed out of the tall white cement-and-glass structure singing the familiar war chant.

Leading the way were three longtime friends from KC — Adrian Calderon, Nosa Iyamu and Monte Terrill — who’d decided last year to get tickets and make the road trip to Houston.

The trio attends one away game each season. Last year was Denver, and the year before that was San Diego. Houston, this season’s destination of choice, earned the nod over drinks last year.

And it turned out to be a great destination.

“It’s the first game of the season.” Iyamu said, “and we wanted to see the Chiefs firsthand.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2015 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Chiefs fans make trek to Houston to watch season opener and leave happy."