Kansas City Chiefs: This one is for those no longer with us

The Kansas City Chiefs are 60 minutes away from a trip to the Super Bowl. Most of us have waited our whole lives for this, many didn’t make it this far.

Sports fandom is quite an amazing thing. For Kansas City Chiefs fans, it has been decades of faith and hope, of heartbreak and wishful thinking.

On Sunday, we get to witness our Chiefs take on the mighty Patriots for a trip to the Super Bowl. That sentence alone is still hard to really grasp. There are many that aren’t as fortunate as we are this day.

Somewhere in Arrowhead on Sunday is a boy without his father. Somewhere in front of a television is a little girl, dressed in Chiefs gear, because she knows she’d share the moment with daddy if he were here. Each year we lose someone we know or someone we love dearly. Think of the many that are unable to witness their favorite team on the brink of a Super Bowl.

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Fandom can be a gift, a foundation and our passion and focus that brings our families together—even those who’ve gone before us.

Think about those fans of the Chicago Cubs. There are generations that saw their team come up short for over a century. Fans lived and died without ever seeing their team win the big one. Then, the Cubs finally won it. Think about those that missed out on what might be just a tiny blip of their life, but put so much of themselves into that blip while they lived. Times like these make their efforts mean something, mean everything.

These very true and very personal stories shine a light on what weekends like this one truly mean.

Shawn Sluder loved three things: his daughter Kiersten, his friends, and his Chiefs. In the small Oklahoma town he was from, everyone knew him as a Chiefs fan perhaps more than anything else. God took him from this world a little over two years ago. The whole community took notice, silently watching over this child who just lost her best friend, her daddy.

How did she cope? Well, she’s one of the most adorable young Chiefs fans around. She’s made her way to Arrowhead herself since his passing. The Chiefs are in a way her constant connection with her father. I say this as one of those silent ones watching after her, a father to little girls myself. She roots passionately for the Chiefs to this day, because of what the team meant to her dad.

Nine-year-old Brody Matson will be in attendance to see the Chiefs take on the Patriots on Sunday—a trip that was meant to be with his father. On Friday night, his father Jon passed away unexpectedly in front of his wife and kids.

The strength of young Brody making the trek to this game speaks volumes as to how important these Chiefs are to us. A son without his father, Brody will likely cling to the rest of his life onto moments like these and for the connection they represent.

Jon Matson passed away on his wife’s birthday in their hometown of Columbus, Kansas. They had been married for almost 21 years. He has two sons, Brody and Kolby, age 11. The couple also has two adopted children, Sammy and Monica. He loved his kids, loved his wife, Kerri, and he loved his Chiefs. He worked with special needs children and rooted for his beloved Chiefs the entirety of his life.

Despite the sadness and the shock of losing someone unexpectedly, chances are the AFC Championship game will be playing in the Matson home on Sunday. Jon is every single one of us. Brody is every single one of us. Shawn is every one of us. Kiersten is every one of us. We can all relate to one of these individuals if not all of them.

This weekend isn’t just for us that get to tune in or walk through those gates on Sunday. This weekend is for Chiefs Kingdom, young and old, here and there, in person and in spirit. Somewhere in Arrowhead is a boy without a father. Cheering louder than ever before, for his father. Somewhere is a little girl watching, hoping that she gets to watch her father’s dream come true.

For all of those that spent season after season hoping and praying that this could be the year, this could actually be the year.

There are more fans cheering in Arrowhead on Sunday than seats. Generations. Cheer not for those next to you or in front of you; cheer loudly for those unable to witness. On Sunday, I’ll be cheering for Jon, Brody, Shawn, Kiersten. I’ll cheer for Uncle Dwight and Uncle Clyde. I’ll yell for many, many more that deserve a mention.

This one is for you.

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