At NFL Draft in KC: 8 Kansas friends loving 8 different teams. Not ONE is a Chiefs fan
It almost seemed like a joke — perhaps even an impossibility. Or maybe they just embody the NFL Draft in its purest sense.
Eight close friends — all from Kansas — stood on the North Lawn of the National WWI Museum and Memorial on Thursday, taking in a view of the draft stage at Union Station.
Erick Robles, 27, who is hosting the brood at his Kansas City place over the weekend, was wearing a Baltimore Ravens jersey. Jayme Fuentes, 32, of Wichita: Jacksonville Jaguars. Then on down the line — Leo Orozco, Eagles; Luis Carrasco, Colts; his brother Brayan Carrasco, Cardinals; Michael Camarena, Seahawks; Alex Camacho, Broncos; Jairo Martinez, Panthers.
Was it possible that not one of the Kansas friends — not one staying in the town of the Super Bowl champions — was wearing Kansas City Chiefs red?
The friends jeered: Boo! Hiss! No!
Not only did they not root for Patrick Mahomes and company in Super Bowl LVII, they were rooting against them.
“We all were,” Fuentes said.
“Broncos country. Let’s ride!“ Camacho said
“Fly, Eagles, fly!” Orozco said.
It’s less about hating the Chiefs (although they pretty much do) and more about loving their own teams.
“I didn’t have any influence. I was young,” Fuentes said. “My favorite animal is a jaguar. I started playing Madden. I saw the Jaguars. It was a match made in heaven,”
“Eagles? It was a family friend. I started watching back in 2000,” Orozco said. “(Quarterback Donovan) McNabb. Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook. And ever since then.”
“I became a Colts fan because of Peyton Manning,” Luis Carrasco said.
More than half the guys drove in from Garden City, rising at 2 a.m., high-tailing it across Kansas in six hours to knock on Robles’ door by 9 a.m. The guys’ voices mixed together.
“Once in a lifetime,” one friend said. “We had to come.”
“We’re for hope and opportunity. We’re optimistic,” another said, which is pretty much the essential point of the entire draft extravaganza.
Martinez’s Carolina Pathers get the first pick in the first round. Brayan Carrasco’s Arizona Cardinals pick third. The Indianapolis Colts get fourth. The Seattle Seahawks fifth.
The odds that some of the Kansas friends may switch and become part of Chiefs Kingdom, which seemed to dominate Thursday’s draft crowd?
“No!” “Hell no.”
Fuentes summed it up. “Listen, the Jaguars have like had 16 losing seasons in the time I’ve been following them. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to jump on the bandwagon of any good team. I haven’t.
“That’s the same for all of us.”
Go … team!
