Chiefs superfan (and pro soccer player) honored to bang drum at Thursday night’s game

When the Kansas City Current acquired women’s pro soccer player Cece Kizer from Racing Louisville in 2022, her propensity for scoring game-winning or tying goals earned her the nickname “Cash Money Kizer.”

After watching the Netflix documentary “Untold: Johnny Football” on former college star Johnny Manziel this summer, she even broke out Manziel’s money celebration upon delivery of an August winner against the OL Reign.

Kizer’s appreciation for football runs deep, as does her love for her hometown NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Blue Valley Northwest High School grad even has a Chiefs-related tattoo that she says teammates have given her “crap about.”

So this next sentence means a lot to Kizer: Before the Chiefs and Broncos kick off Thursday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kizer will be the one banging the ceremonial pre-game drum.

“It’s a huge honor,” Kizer said. “There’s a lot of great people that have done it, and It’s a huge honor that I get to be up there.”

Each week the Chiefs play at home, the team selects someone of local renown to bang the large drum above GEHA Field. Retired Chiefs quarterback Chad Henne and K-State men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang have done the honors at the past two home games.

Since joining the KC Current via trade in June 2022, Kizer has enjoyed the best stretch of her National Women’s Soccer League career. Before coming to Kansas City, she played for teams in Houston, then Norway, and then Louisville.

The Overland Park native has scored 15 goals with four assists across all competitions since the trade. And eight of those goals and two of those assists have tied or won matches.

The trade also enabled her to play home games in front of friends and family.

“I get messages on Instagram like every other game saying, ‘I came to your game today. It was so great to see you out there. Just like watching you back in high school at Blue Valley Northwest,’” Kizer said. “It’s so cool to be able to represent that group.”

With country performer Jason Aldean in town, Kizer almost unknowingly double-booked herself Thursday night. She said she’d been contemplating buying concert tickets until she received a phone call about being the Chiefs’ “drum honoree.”

“I’m kind of glad I didn’t,” Kizer said. “It was all just meant to be.”

Kizer and the Current, who made it to the NWSL championship game last year, close out the 2023 season on the road Sunday afternoon. They play Gotham FC at 4 p.m. Central Time in Harrison, New Jersey.