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<\/p>\nA family of five sat patiently at the\u00a0Guadalupe Center\u00a0in downtown Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon, unbeknownst of the enormous surprise that was just moments away.<\/p>\n
Maria was here with her four children \u2013 12-year-old Eulises, 11-year-old Alfredo, 5-year-old Gael and 3-year-old Sofia \u2013 for what she believed was a routine check-in at one of the top family support service providers in the area.<\/p>\n
That support was indeed on the way, but it was those delivering it that left the family speechless as two familiar faces made their way into the room.<\/p>\n
It was Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, each carrying a basket full of food and gifts for the holidays, as disbelief transformed into excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSofia, I think I have a present for you,\u201d Mahomes said as he handed the grinning 3-year-old a doll.<\/p>\n
Mahomes then found a superhero toy for Gael, some Legos for Alfredo and a football for Eulises among the many gifts the young quarterback had in his possession.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Steve Sanders<\/p>\n
In the blink of an eye, this was already an afternoon to remember.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a grand surprise,\u201d Maria said through a translator. \u201cThe first thing I thought was just, \u2018Wow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The emotion in the room was tangible, and the preeminent gift of the visit was still yet to come.<\/p>\n
As the kids played with their new toys, Mahomes, Kelce and representatives from Kansas City Southern presented Maria, who suffers from a chronic condition that limits her ability to make ends meet, with a check that promised to cover the family\u2019s home utilities in full for a calendar year.<\/p>\n
Elation again turned to disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be such a huge help,\u201d Maria said. \u201cMy family will always remember this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Steve Sanders<\/p>\n
It was a moment that neither Mahomes nor Kelce took lightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt meant a ton to be part of that, and not just for me, but for the family,\u201d Mahomes added. \u201cThat mom does so much and those kids are great kids. She earned everything that she got today and a thousand times more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the surprise, the players then settled in and made a point of spending time with each of the four kids.<\/p>\n
Mahomes showed Eulises how to grip his new football while Kelce asked Alfredo about school among a myriad of other conversations that consumed the better part of an hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a special group right here \u2013 they were picked by the Guadalupe Center for a reason,\u201d Kelce said. \u201cYou could tell how much this mother loves her four kids and on top of that, you can see how much those kids love their mother. It was all-around just a fun experience to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Steve Sanders<\/p>\n
And both Mahomes and Kelce certainly made the most of it, providing a personal touch throughout the entirety of the visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the first thing we noticed \u2013 the way that the players actually engaged the children,\u201d said Diane Rojas, Vice President of Health and Social Services at Guadalupe Centers. \u201cI know it meant a lot to them. They know who the Chiefs are, and they don\u2019t get that type of excitement in their life every day, so I think they were truly appreciative of this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Matt Starkey<\/p>\n
The event was all made possible by the folks at\u00a0Kansas City Southern, who nominated the Guadalupe Centers as the beneficiary of the Hunt Family Foundation 50\/50 raffle during the Chiefs\u2019 Week 7 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n
The raffle raised $56,925 for the organization, which strives to improve the quality of life for people of all ethnic backgrounds while celebrating cultural heritage, and Wednesday\u2019s visit and subsequent gift put those donations into action.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just wanted to help them out,\u201d said Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, President and CEO at Kansas City Southern. \u201cShe\u2019s a single mother with four kids, so she has her hands full, and hopefully, with it being around Thanksgiving time and with Christmas coming up, it brings some joy to that family that they may not have had otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018); }else{ document.write(\u2018<\/ins>\u2018); } \u2013><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure whose face lit up more \u2013 the family\u2019s or mine,\u201d said Michael J. Naatz, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Kansas City Southern. \u201cIt was so great to see the kids and to see the appreciation from the family. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve Sanders<\/p>\n The event marked the second outreach endeavor benefiting the Guadalupe Centers this week between the Chiefs and Kansas City Southern, as the Chiefs Community Caring Team\u00a0stopped by Guadalupe Center Middle School on Monday\u00a0for a Play 60 clinic with more than two dozen kids.<\/p>\n Both visits demonstrated the Chiefs and Kansas City Southern\u2019s commitment to bettering the Hispanic community right here in Kansas City, and on Wednesday, that dedication helped change some lives.<\/p>\n \u201cThis means everything to me. My kids will always remember what happened here today,\u201d Maria said. \u201cThey\u2019ll never forget this.\u201d<\/p>\n And, as Kelce articulated afterwards, neither will anyone else who had a chance to be there.<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing the smiles on these kids\u2019 faces [was special],\u201d Kelce said. \u201cI\u2019ll remember this day forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahomes and the Chiefs drew a pair of controversial roughing calls in their win over the Texans on Saturday<\/p>\n Any idea that Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are getting special treatment from officials, at least according to Mike Pereira, is just an \u201cabsolute myth.\u201d<\/p>\n Pereira, a longtime NFL official and former vice president of officiating for the league,\u00a0appeared on The Rich Eisen Show\u00a0on Tuesday and spoke with Eisen about takes from fans who think that Mahomes and the Chiefs are receiving some sort of special treatment from officials in key games. That take erupted this past weekend when Mahomes drew a\u00a0controversial unnecessary roughness call\u00a0in their win over the Houston Texans \u2014 which secured a return trip to the AFC championship game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t resonate with me at all. \u2026 The fact that you\u2019re looking out for anyone, any team, any individual is a myth. It is an absolute myth,\u201d Pereira, who is currently working as Fox Sports\u2019 rules analyst, told Eisen on Tuesday. \u201cYou don\u2019t have time to react and say, \u2018This is Goff, I\u2019m not going to call this because it\u2019s Goff,\u2019 or, \u2018This is Mahomes, I\u2019ve got to call this because it\u2019s Mahomes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mahomes, late in the third quarter Saturday,\u00a0went to scramble for a first down before giving himself up\u00a0at the last second. A pair of Texans defenders collided with Mahomes, though he was barely hit. Still, officials awarded Mahomes an unnecessary roughness penalty that kept their drive alive.<\/p>\n Both Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, who were calling the game for ESPN, were livid.<\/p>\n That was one of several instances in that game where the Chiefs seemed to benefit either from a call, or the lack of a call.\u00a0Will Anderson Jr. got hit with a roughing the passer penalty\u00a0in the first half after he barely hit Mahomes, and the\u00a0Chiefs got away with a hip-drop tackle.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of those in my opinion should\u2019ve been passed on,\u201d Pereira said on The Rich Eisen Show. \u201cI understand why they were called because we are in a time of protection of quarterbacks and pretty much everybody, but when the league came out and defended them \u2026 that doesn\u2019t mean they want them to be called.\u201d<\/p>\n While the penalties against the Chiefs weren\u2019t as clear cut as they could\u2019ve been, it doesn\u2019t mean much now. Mahomes and the Chiefs still won the game, and will now host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in an attempt to make it back to the Super Bowl and win a third consecutive championship.<\/p>\n And as for fans who think they know how to officiate while sitting at home on the couch with instant replay available to them, Pereira isn\u2019t here for that either.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t bother me because those people who say that don\u2019t know a damn thing about officiating,\u201d Pereira said. \u201cUntil you actually put the uniform on, and until you have to make those quick judgments \u2026 if you haven\u2019t done it, and you don\u2019t recognize how hard it is in real time and how easy it is in super slow motion, then get out of my train. Get off my train, I mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A family of five sat patiently at the\u00a0Guadalupe Center\u00a0in downtown Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon, unbeknownst of the enormous surprise that was just<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":42722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"SO](\"https:\/\/static.clubs.nfl.com\/image\/private\/t_editorial_landscape_mobile\/f_auto\/chiefs\/qbxfinifjhkgzwg3r05a.jpg\")
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