WHITEMAN AFB — The Kansas City Chiefs visited Whiteman Air Force Base Tuesday with one message for the service men and women, and Chiefs President Mark Donovan said it best, “We unite the city, you unite the country.”
With a backdrop of a B-2 Spirit, the world’s elite bomber, stood 50 of Whiteman Air Force Base’s finest and five defensive lineman from the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I’m a huge military fan. I was laughing, if you see me in the off season I’m such a poser because I’m totally dressed in camo. You’d think I was a military guy,” said Mike DeVito, a defensive lineman for the Chiefs.
“It’s a blessing. I think I’m more excited than they are. But they come out with open arms and invited them in their place of work and I appreciate it,” said Chiefs defensive lineman Dontari Poe.
It was a day for the Airmen and women to meet some of the guys they watch every Sunday.
“It means the world. We don’t often get this kind of support all the time. So for them to take time out of their busy schedules and out of practice to come out here and show support for us, it means the world,” said Sgt. Mandy Pauley.
It was the kind of day that allowed everyone to take their minds off the daily grind of work and real life.
“If they can come out and smile and be happy to see us, it’s easy for us to do what we do,” said Poe.
“Just the discipline and the toughness and just everything that these guys bring to the table. I mean, they embody what we try to be. Again we’re grateful for them and I really look up to them,” said DeVito.
But more importantly, it was a day for the Chiefs to say to the service men and women, ‘Without all of you, we couldn’t do what we do, play the game that we love, or enjoy the freedoms that come courtesy of the red, white and blue.’
“Just seeing these people, they come here smiling and they are the ones fighting for the country. They’re the ones doing what they do each and every day to keep us safe,” said Poe.
“It really is a cool back and forth. I think we’re both really interested in each other lives because there is some parallel. But at the end of the day we play a game and they put their lives on the line for us to do it,” said DeVito.
“You know, we go out and we fight for freedom and the opportunity for these guys to go out there and do what they love so it’s a give and take. It what makes the world go around,” said Sgt. Mandy Pauley.
The Chiefs said the discipline they saw on base would help them in their preparations for the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
