Union Station lights up Kansas City Chief red with the Chiefs on the clock Thursday night. Screenshot from ESPN’s broadcast." />
Union Station lights up Kansas City Chief red with the Chiefs on the clock Thursday night. Screenshot from ESPN’s broadcast.
There was never much doubt within the Mastro family that they would be going to the NFL Draft in Kansas City this year.
“As soon as word got out the draft was coming to Kansas City, Joey was excited and Tony was going to find a way to get him there,” Christina Mastro said of her son and husband.
As big Philadelphia Eagles fans, Tony and Joey were excited to go to an event that all football fans can enjoy.
They were not disappointed Thursday night as they spent some time talking with other Eagles fans.
“A couple of them actually came in from Philly. So that was a fun conversation,” Tony Mastro said. “There wasn’t a ton of them, but here and there we’d see them and give them a ‘Go Birds’ as we walked by.”
Mastro and his son also got to meet many fans from other NFL teams while waiting in lines.
“The Baltimore Ravens fan of the year was standing right there with us. So we got to talk to her quite a bit and hear some of her stories,” Mastro said. “There was a Packers fan. One of their superfans was there and got some pictures with him. It was really fun and interesting just to talk to people.”
NFL Network estimated there were 125,000 people at the first night of the Draft.
There were also several activities for fans to participate in, including a 40-yard dash, a vertical jump, a field goal kick and a Hail Mary pass.
Mastro said he and Joey got to view the locker room exhibit where they saw several teams’ Super Bowl rings as well.
Past and present Kansas City Chiefs players signed autographs and held meet-and-greets with fans.
Renee Weeks said she got to meet Chiefs safety Justin Reid and former quarterback Chad Henne as well as get their autographs. Weeks also visited a Chiefs Kingdom activity area where legendary Chiefs running back Priest Holmes made an appearance.
“Overall, a great experience that most of us will only get once in a lifetime,” Weeks said.
Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce opened the Draft by bringing out the Vince Lombardi Trophy from the team’s Super Bowl win in February.
Chiefs fans also showed out to represent Kansas City at the Draft. Even the team’s first round pick, edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah, has been a Chiefs fan his whole life.
Eudora High School senior Branden Gregory said Anudike-Uzomah was a great selection by the Chiefs at pick 31.
“I wanted us to pick an edge rusher,” Gregory said. “I do like the pick, you know, hometown kid from Kansas City and he’s a big Chiefs fan. I think he’ll be really good. I mean, I think he is basically like Frank Clark, in my opinion.”
Much like the Mastros, Gregory said he also got to talk with fans from other teams. Gregory said it was fun to talk to fans of the New York Giants and Jets about the moves the teams have made this offseason.
“Rodgers went to the Jets, so we were talking about whether they’d get 10 or more wins,” Gregory said about quarterback Aaron Rodgers being traded to the Jets. “This Giants fan said they’re not going to get 10 wins because they got to play the Giants. Then, we talked about the Giants a little bit. We talked about Daniel Jones and his contract. The Giants fan didn’t really like him getting paid all that money.”
Gregory said he was able to get close to the stage around the eighth pick.
“It was cool to see Goodell walk out there,” Gregory said about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “And then all the lights and stuff. It was just a bunch of stuff going on.”
But Gregory also said you didn’t have to be close to the stage to enjoy the Draft. Gregory said the activities were fun to watch and the live music in between picks was good as well.
Gregory went to the Draft with his father, Jeff, but said he also ran into a few friends while there.
While he balances school and work, Gregory said it was nice to spend time with his father and watch the Draft together.
“We really don’t get to do that stuff during the week,” he said. “It was fun to just, like, him get away from work and me get away from school and work. We ate tacos together and sat and talked about the picks. We talked about the teams. He bought me a sweatshirt, so that was cool. It was really just a good time.”
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]
If you appreciate our sports coverage, please donate. Our newspaper depends on your donations to provide coverage of Eudora and continue providing local news.
To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link.