KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This weekend marks the start of the professional football season and there’s a lot of excitement in Kansas City.
Red Friday has been a tradition for nearly 20 years, as many folks are showing their support for the Chiefs by wearing red.
In Martin City, team owner Clark Hunt took time to say thank you to some special fans.
Rosehill Gardens is celebrating its 100th year in business, and the landscaping firm has had season tickets to Chiefs games since the team played in Kansas City’s old Municipal Stadium.
Hunt made a surprise visit to Rosehill Friday morning to thank the company for its loyal support. Hunt presented owner Gary Weidenbach with a special Chiefs jersey with Rosehill’s name stitched on the back. Workers at Rosehill Gardens says win or lose, they have fun rooting for the Chiefs.
“It was absolutely a shocker,” Weidenbach said. “We have parking passes out in M lot and I see Clark driving around before the games and he always waves at the fans, so when he came through I figured, that’s Clark. He would do that. It’s fantastic he made it out. He did it, it was great!”
Landscape workers started tailgating in the morning with a Red Friday burrito breakfast.
Rosehill Gardens also is proud of a lot of the landscaping around Arrowhead Stadium, because the company put it in.
Hunt says Red Friday is a tradition unique to Kansas City and the players and coaching staff really appreciate that support.
“It’s a fun thing for us to do this morning,” Hunt said. “I was able to celebrate a woman’s birthday this morning. Her birthday is actually on Saturday, and we presented her family with a jersey, at their home. It did catch them by surprise.”
Hunt says he doesn’t like to make predictions about the upcoming season. But he believes the team will be exciting and he’s hopeful the Chiefs can build on last year’s success.
