Chiefs fans excited for draft, uncertain about future
Rene Lamarche stood in the concession line Thursday evening, hoping for the best for this night and further into the future. The Chiefs’ annual draft party was underway, and this taste of football was enough to convince Lamarche, his daughter and a friend to make the drive from Wichita to Arrowhead Stadium.
Six weeks after NFL owners locked out players, putting the 2011 season in jeopardy, there was a break finally this week from the tedium and uncertainty of this past month and a half. Not only did the lockout lift, even if temporarily, after a federal judge gave players a preliminary injunction, but the draft was enough to at least renew the excitement that maybe football season is around the corner.
Again, only if temporarily.
“This is the first football talk we’ve gotten,” Lamarche said. “I am excited for the draft, but it’s almost like, ‘What are we doing it for?’
“There’s so much uncertainty.”
Players and owners are at odds over millions of dollars, and the players’ association dissolved March 11 after league decided to suspend business and the league’s rules and normal schedule. Among other things, owners want a rookie salary cap and more regular-season games; players want proof that owners are losing money, as they claim.
Instead of the usual springtime buzz of offseason practices and training camp on the horizon, the only talk this month has been about the lockout and the draft — at least until Judge Susan Richard Nelson ruled this week that the lockout was illegal.
What happens next is unclear. On Wednesday, two days after her initial ruling, the judge refused to grant owners a stay on the injunction, pending an appeal. Players will be allowed to meet with coaches and, if they are insured, work out at their respective teams’ facilities today.
That’s nice, Lamarche and other fans said Thursday at Arrowhead, not long after the Carolina Panthers selected former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick.
But is it reality or a mirage?
“I think we’re going to play,” said Bob Danley, a Blue Springs resident and lifelong Chiefs fan. “I trust that both sides know that have a lot to lose.”
He said the sides stand to lose the faith of millions of football fans, even the most hardcore fans — like Danley, who dressed Thursday in a pope costume adorned with Chiefs colors and logos. He said he has made five outfits like this, and that’s not all. He has a Chiefs-colored hearse, too.
But Danley, 40, said that even the most dedicated fans might sour on the NFL if a long-term deal isn’t soon reached. After all, he said, those fans haven’t been granted the same luxury of time to decide whether, if there’s a 2011 season, they’ll even be interested in watching.
“I didn’t get a chance to postpone my season-ticket renewal,” Danley said. “It does make it frustrating when you get that bill.”
NFL teams have asked fans to pay for season-ticket privileges and, if there are regular-season games lost, refunds will be issued after those dates.
“They need a sense of urgency,” Danley said. “You take away something people look forward to, and you can’t just get it back.”
Not everyone is so discouraged. Jonathan James, 32, stood in a concourse Thursday in the north part of Arrowhead. He walked out and saw the Chiefs’ field, gnarled and unkempt after months without care.
He stood there and took a breath, and he said this made him feel rejuvenated and hopeful that, yes, there are things worth looking forward to.
“I just love it here,” he said. “It’s going to happen.”
But what if the disagreement drags on for more weeks or months? What if training camp is suspended, or the preseason is eclipsed? What if the regular season doesn’t start on time or at all?
James said that’s not worth worrying about — not on a day like this, which is about optimism and hoping that what’s coming next is worth the investment.
“Football is going to happen. I don’t know if it’s optimism, ignorance — but football is going to happen,” he said. “Once they get on that field, everything will be forgiven.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2011 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Chiefs fans excited for draft, uncertain about future."