🏈 Chiefs Quotes: 7-29-26

2026 Chiefs Training Camp presented by Mosaic Life Care Opening Press Conference

July 29, 2026

Pat Dillon, Chief Government and Community Relations Officer, Mosaic Life Care

DILLON: “Hey, good morning, everybody. I'm Pat Dillon. I am with Mosaic Life Care and proud to officially welcome all of you to our 16th training camp, believe it or not, here at Missouri Western in St. Joe, Missouri. You know, we're proud to have you. Today we're going to hear from our CEO, Mike Poore, CEO of Mosaic, and Chiefs President Mark Donovan. And to kick off the press conference, I'm honored to introduce interim president of Missouri Western, Pat Lilly. Pat became interim president of Missouri Western in May of this year, May 11th. He brings decades of executive leadership experience and strong understanding of Missouri Western in his role and his background here in the region. He previously served as president and CEO of the St. Joe Chamber of Commerce for more than 18 years, chief administrative officer for Triumph Foods, and city manager for the city of St. Joseph. Pat and I both have a long background of involvement in St. Joseph, Missouri. He served on the board of Missouri Western State University Board of Governors, including a term as chair. So, Pat, welcome to your role, your first press conference for Chiefs Camp, and we'll let you go ahead and kick it off.”

Pat Lilly, Interim President, Missouri Western State University

LILLY: “Pat, thank you. When Pat Dillon gets up to introduce you, you always get a little worried, but I appreciate that, Pat. Well, welcome and we are pleased to welcome back the Kansas City Chiefs for the 16th Training Camp here at Missouri Western. The enthusiasm that the Chiefs bring with them and their fans, frankly, is a great way to wrap up our summer here and to begin our school year, which will begin toward the end of August. It also gives us an opportunity to showcase our campus, and I hope those of you that are here that have not been here before take a little time to enjoy the campus and the community as well. Since we are an applied learning institution here at Missouri Western, I think it's worth noting that we have dozens of interns who are students at Missouri Western, as well as institutions from across the country that come here to work with a first-class organization like the Chiefs. I can't think of a better internship, frankly, than to work for the Chiefs. You know, when you look around the campus as camp is occurring, obviously see a lot of people in red and what have you, but you may not see all the work that goes on and has been going on for the last several months. It really is a heavy lift, if you will, for so many here at the university that I want to say thank you to, but it's one that we really enjoy and one that we appreciate doing on behalf of the community. And speaking of community, I will say as well that having camp here is really a community effort that includes the city, the county, the Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and particularly Mosaic Life Care, all of whom have been here from the very beginning. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Mike Poore, CEO of Mosaic Life Care.”

Mike Poore, CEO, Mosaic Life Care

POORE: “Hi, everyone, I'm Mike Poore, CEO of Mosaic Life Care, and I'm honored to actually represent the 5,000 caregivers of Mosaic Life Care. We are happy to be back into football now, and we want to welcome the Chiefs, the Chiefs Kingdom, and all the fans back to St. Joe, Missouri, and we're here to take care of them with our Mosaic Life Care caregivers as an organization. Now we just broke ground on a $71 million cardiac center of excellence, and we are very proud of that. It's part of our commitment to the community where we are building something sustainable, just like the Chiefs. Now, we don't get a ring or a trophy, but the team comes in and works hard every day to take care of our community. So, we look forward to a great camp, a great season this year, and we're all good fans to make this happen. So, it's my pleasure to introduce Mark Donovan, President of the Chiefs, to come up and do some comments.”

Mark Donovan, President, Kansas City Chiefs

DONOVAN: “Morning, everybody. Thank you for being here. I want to thank Mike for the introduction. Pat, it's always good to see you. Feels like camp officially begins when Pat Dillon gets behind his microphone, so I'm glad you're here. Pat (Lilly), it's nice to meet you and thank you for being here. I want to echo Pat Lilly's comments and acknowledge that we really appreciate that it is a community effort and the entire community of St. Joe, every civic organization, the citizens, our fans who are here, we really appreciate the welcome they give us and the energy they give our players and coaches every single day. Kicking off today with our Season Ticket Member Day, the first of a couple. One of the things we're really proud of and excited for; pancake breakfast for all of our Season Ticket Members has become a very big and popular day for us. If you haven't been down to watch some people flip some pancakes, you got to come down and see it. But it's a great way to start the camp and really kick things off for our Season Ticket Members. I typically start with football and where we are. I'm going to take a second and just acknowledge that we've had a really busy summer as a region and as an organization. We've been working with the folks in and around the World Cup for about four and a half years and to be able to host the World Cup as a region has been something that we've been really excited to be a part of. I want to congratulate the entire Kansas City region, the organizing committee, on pulling off just an epic event. I believe that it's put our region on a level internationally that it has never been on before. It was a huge challenge and one that I was really proud our team was a part of to help pull off. When you think about the number of people who came through here, that's one measure. You look at the ratings, that's another measure. I think the one thing that some people need to acknowledge is the level of exposure that Kansas City got internationally is one of the things we strive for. We talk a lot about being the ‘world's team’ and I think the World Cup gave us another opportunity to show how special this entire region is and how capable this city and region is to host events like the World Cup. We'll talk a little bit later about our stadium project. Events like the World Cup and our ability to pull that off successfully actually accelerate the ability to host even bigger events at the new facility that we're building. So, I'll get to that in a bit. I want to stick back to camp for a second. We are excited to be back here. We're excited to get going with 18 open practices this year, which I believe is the most in the National Football League. It's something that is core to our brand, and core to experience, and really core to our founder, that our fans are our lifeblood, and we want to do everything we can to expose our team to them. And this is probably the best way to do that in an up-close and personal way. Special thanks to Coach (Andy) Reid and (General Manager) Brett Veach for understanding how important this is, and understanding how important the access is. You know, we're going to have another hot day out there. This will be the first real practice for the players as a team. These are long, hard days. And the fact that our coaches, (Chiefs Chairman and CEO) Clark (Hunt), really communicates our players how important it is to take care of our fans when they're out here. And that goes to thank our players for staying the extra time after practice to sign autographs after every practice, to make our fans feel special because they deserve to feel special, because they give us the ability to do what we do. If you'll allow me, I'm going to read a couple of important reminders that I want to make sure I get right about camp specifically. All tickets must be reserved in advance. Tickets are free, with the exception of three days when there's a $7 per ticket fee. There's a parking fee every day per car. We have those two exclusive Season Ticket Member days, they're already both sold out. I think this is a really important one if you guys can help get this message out for our fans; if you go to Chiefs.com/trainingcamp, you got all the information in terms of practices, hours, access. You do have to reserve your tickets in advance. There are a few days that are about sold out, but there are still tickets available for most days. So, go on there, get your tickets and come up and see us. The other thing about that website is, today's a good example of it, enabling the push notification is really important for our fans. We're going to get some weather here that's going to roll in. Hopefully it's going to miss us, but the push notification gives us the ability to really communicate quickly with our fans what we're doing, if the guys are going to be out, if they're going be in, and give them updates as they go here. It also gives you all the rules and regulations, clear bag policy, all the things we typically do. I'm sure we'll get in some questions later about more of the specifics. But I'll say this, we're really excited to be back here. Really excited for the support that everyone gives us. I do want to take a second and thank Andy Carter, the (Athletic Director) here, his entire staff. I say this every year, but we should say it more than we do. The amount of work that goes into the day to day for our players and coaches to allow them to be able to get through the two and three weeks up here. that nobody ever sees. The people behind the scenes, Andy and his team, do an amazing job for us and we really appreciate it. With that I'm going to ask Mike and Pat to come back up and we'll do our annual photo and take some questions.”

Q: Obviously, rabid fans are going to come out for training camp, but over the last few years when the team's had so much success, what do you see as the measure of that success when it comes to fans coming out of the differences in training camp versus not winning three Super Bowls over several years?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, I think that last year is last year, and that's the way this team is looking at it and that is how we look at it. I think for the most part that's how our fans are looking at it. Today is first day. I would tell you that the early results on ticket requests are pretty consistent, and you've seen that over the years. Real quickly just to give you some gauge on how consistent and how faithful our fans are and one of the things we're really grateful for. You know, I first got here in 2009. We were kind of a struggling football team, and go back and look at the records of 2006, ‘07 and ‘08 going into that season. So. I asked our team to pull out a stat that we track across the league called, ‘watch, attend, listen.’ So, do you watch games, do you attend games, or do you listen [to] games? And if you look at last 10 years or 10 years before that, the Kansas City Chiefs fan base is 100% consistent. It stays at the same level, it doesn't matter about the record. Now, there's obviously, you know, some ticks in that up and down. There are a lot more ways to track it now, but we have felt the support, we continue to feel the support, the traffic we see, the things we measure are consistent or up. One of the coolest things about the NFL is everybody's 0-0 right now. And everybody has an opportunity in this league to hoist that trophy at the end of the year and we're looking forward to doing that.”

Q: Mark, with obviously the new projects you have going on in Kansas City and the process of being able to eventually host training camp there in a new facility, how do you view the next five years? Is it something that you view in the next 5 years as being in St. Joe and a partner? And how do you view the long-term vision of it?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, let me answer that directly, we absolutely view it as being with St. Joe and being a partner with them for the next five years. I think one of the things that has been really great about this relationship, and again, I'll go back to history, right? When we first signed this deal, there were a lot of questions on if we were going to be here for five years, right, and to be here 16 years later and say, ‘we're still here and we still enjoy it and it still works for us.’ It has to work for them, too. And over the years, I think what we've done is establish a really good rhythm in how we look at this on both sides. A really good understanding of each other's businesses, and if you follow our business, you see a lot of things have changed over the years, specifically the number of teams that have gone back to their training facility versus going away, it's increased exponentially. And my limited knowledge, just in learning it from the folks in Missouri Western and some other universities that we work with, is their world has changed dramatically as well. When you think about the funding and the government funding and things that they need to do. So, I think that base, that foundation, understanding each other's business is really important as we go forward. We've adjusted some things in our agreement to address that, and I just want to be clear, it's been on both sides. We've done more in the past year than we've ever done as an organization to support them. They've done for us over the years to support us year in and year out, and think that's what makes the partnership work. We'll do that again this year. At the end of the year, we'll sit down and say what went well, what are the things we can work on, what are challenges you face, what are the challenges we face, and then hopefully we'll continue on. We have a multi-year agreement, and we expect to be here for a long time. I will say this, just because it's the obvious follow-up question; with the training facility being built in Olathe, we as an organization have to look at everything we do with options. So, that training facility is going to be designed with the ability to host training camp. We have to have that option. Who knows where we are in five years. But that decision, we made year four and year five as we go into that building because, depending on the head coach, does he still want to go away, does he see the efficiency? Those things will factor in. We just have to have the options.”

Q: Will that include having the ability to have fans out there?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, the way that it's currently planned is, and look, we've looked, as you know Sam (McDowell), we've looked across the league at how other teams have done this with their training facilities and one of the things we've done is design it so it has enough seating. Now, it won't be a college stadium necessarily, but it will be enough seating to host a big number of our fans for every single practice if we want to.”

Q: Are you concerned the state of Kansas is having trouble selling bonds for the new stadium?

DONOVAN: “We are not concerned about the ability to sell the bonds for our stadium. If you look at the market and you talk to the experts in the market, the combination of the fact that sports-anchored real estate is probably the hottest market in real estate right now, and the power of the National Football League. It's a pretty compelling, powerful partnership, and all the indications that we have received are that they're going to be a very strong market.”

Q: I wanted to ask about the renderings. There's certainly a pretty heavy Arrowhead feel. What's the balance between, obviously you guys are leaving Arrowhead behind, but just trying to take so many elements with you to the new place?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, one of the things we were worried about, you can imagine, you're in a vacuum, there are six or eight of us who are working with two different designers on all the options. One of things, we did two really important things on the front end in giving them direction when they put the designs together. One is we shared the CSL (Conventions, Sports and Leisure International) study that we did with our fans, and we want them to have all the detail and all the specific information they gave to us. I think I've shared with you all before, you know, the three big takeaways from the study, there was a ton in there, but the three takeaways were it needs to be loud or louder, and the tailgating has to be as good or better. And the rest was just that they trusted our ability to give them something they're going to be proud of. So, we gave them that. We went to a pretty broad group of potential designers, and you can imagine the designs we got were all over the board. There were some really futuristic things, there were really some traditional things. And one of the things we sort of centered back on was, we have to honor the legacy of Arrowhead, but we have show a bold and innovative look at the future. And that was a challenge for our designers, like, do it, do both of those things. And there were various degrees of that. I'll go back to the vacuum comment, which is, you know, you're sitting in that room for four months, looking at design, after design, after design, after design and we kept zeroing in on like, we got to get the balance right, honoring Arrowhead, but also looking at the future, and I thought (MANICA Founder) David Manica and his team did an amazing job of really accepting that challenge and distributing it. One of the more satisfying parts of the feedback we got after we released the renderings was, that was one of the first comments from most of the fans, it's like, ‘wow, I see Arrowhead.’ So, we're really excited about what we were able to accomplish and the work we did with MANICA.”

Q: Yesterday it was announced, the lead designer for practice facility. How would you characterize the competition between the finalists of the firms who wanted to do both a practice facility and a stadium?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, this does sound a little self-serving, but it's hopefully more a credit to the team around us. We were doing a lot in a very short period of time, so we're trying to figure out who the best designer is for our stadium, what the real estate development was going to look like, the land acquisition for the stadium. At the same time, we're doing it for the practice facility. So, the competition was very competitive, a lot of really talented people. It's an interesting space because some of the people who competed on the stadium also competed on the practice facility. Some people just competed on the practice facility because that's their expertise. I think with both situations, we had to look at it holistically. And by that, I mean that you got to get the absolute best stadium design in that situation. We also challenged on the stadium side, design the parking lot. One of the things that I don't think people realize is that Arrowhead is amazing for tailgating. If you look at it from a drone, it's really not set up great as a parking lot. There's not a real straight, open pedestrian walkway to any of our gates. Well, now we're on a blank canvas. So, we asked the designers, when you think about the stadium design, think about designing tailgating. Think about designing the lots to take into account all those things, So, we did that with the stadium. We did the same thing with the practice facility. We said, ‘think about the practice facility as you've got to build the absolute best, most functional, efficient place where we can conduct our work.’ It also has to be fan facing, and we've got a real estate development around it that could include a high school football stadium, an indoor sports facility and real estate. That's what gets us excited, and that's what gets the designers excited. So, long-winded way of saying it was a very heated competition. Happy to be with Populous. They competed in both stadium and training facility, and their team on the training facility side really separated themselves pretty quickly.”

Q: Despite being in the early stages, when will you start to be proactive about events that you may be able to do that you're not able to now?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, we had this conversation last week. We have been in discussions with the NFL about Super Bowls in '33, '34, '35. We have been in discussions, very preliminary discussions, but we are aggressively pursuing Final Fours. If you know anything or follow anything about the NCAA, you know, they're going to go out with a bid here, and the thing about it is that if you're the NCAA you're trying to sort of put stability into your future planning. So, they're trying to lock in all these dates. We don't have a building yet and we don't want to be knocked out of those because they've locked in so many so far out. So, we were actually in discussions with the NCAA last week about could we bid on these dates? Our stadium will be done by then, but it's not done right now. So, they were appreciative of that. I think we've said to (President and CEO of Visit KC and the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation) Kathy Nelson and the team there, we said to the folks who help us with these kind of bids that we're going to be very, very aggressive. We're probably going to be early bidders on most things. Acknowledging that doesn't really enhance our chances of winning the bid. I've been on the other side of that, and you really want stability, you want predictability, you want certainty. So, it would be a challenge because when we did this deal, we made the commitment that we're going to be really aggressive, and we think that this facility is going to have the ability to host all kinds of events. And frankly, you think about the events that we are talking about bidding for right now, 95% of them, we wouldn't be able to bid on now, because we don't have an indoor stadium.”

Q: Why not a retractable roof?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, we looked at it. I think there are a number of reasons that came into play. Obviously, cost is one thing, efficiency is another. I mean behind the scenes I would share that we talked to every single team that has a retractable roof and I don't want to put words in their mouth, but it was pretty clear it's not worth it, and if you think about how many people actually use it and retract it that often, it's pretty small. On the positive side, the technology, when you think about this, we're five years away, right? We're in the design process, so we just finished our design, now we get into the details of it. The technology is changing so rapidly, and a fixed roof today versus a fixed roof five years ago is significantly different. A fixed roof five years from now is going to be significantly different. So, we think the technology is going to continue to enhance that. That's one of the things about our renderings, we really challenged the team and the technology piece and the roof, we want it to be as transparent as it possibly can be because flyovers are so important to our game day experience. That's one of the reasons we cut the windows out at the ends so you can see out there as well. So I think that technology is going to change. If you look at the roofs today, you can kind of see a flyover. We expect that you'll be able to see much more of a fly over. I'm not going to say it's going to be crystal clear because you do have some requirements in terms of code and what you have to have in terms filtering.”

Q: What’s the likelihood of natural grass?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, so back to, I answered the question earlier about training camp and having options. We have designed the building to be able to do either. Our preference, and we stated this publicly, is grass. We want to figure that out. So, Steven (St. John), if you're asking me today to bet, I feel pretty strongly that we're going to be playing on natural grass. Back to the comment I just made about technology five years from now, we're in the middle, with other NFL clubs who are in the same process we are, who are going to build domes, can we figure out a way to grow grass indoors? So, we'll continue that process. You may or may not know this, our friends from Populous shared this with us and have offered to take us down there to see it, in New Zealand, there are two rugby stadiums today, they exist, they play on them today, that grow grass indoors. So, the technology is there, right? You just got to figure out, can it adapt to our climate, our building, et cetera, et cetera. The building is designed today to be a grass field. We just roll it out like Vegas does. Arizona does it as well, but we have some flexibility on that. And the other side of that is, I don't think we'll end up here, but the other is to be consistent in tracking technology and changes. You know, you look at what FIFA did, you look what the technology is with hybrid fields and turf fields and turf technology. We'll look at that as well, but our preference is grass.”

Q: Did Clark, in fact, meet with the team last night as he usually does before camp?

DONOVAN: “Yeah, so Clark is going to meet with the team tonight, so he'll do his annual address then.”

Q: Related to that, you're in a bit of a unique situation to see how both Clark and Andy responded to last season. I know you mentioned earlier the idea that last season is last season, but just curious what you would have observed in each of their responses to how it went after the successes of the previous year.

DONOVAN: “I'll take that two ways. The first is I think how they responded is a good example of one of the things I believe that makes us successful as an organization is very consistent. Like there's no surprises, they both responded kind of the same way. Significant frustration, disappointment, we had much higher expectations. Andy had much higher expectations, our players had much higher expectations, Clark and his family had much more expectations, so it was similar. I think the second part of that is what, another thing that makes it special is, I mean, on the plane ride home; what are we going to do to fix this and what do we need to do to fix it? I think that's an important point, to have that open communication where, we're in a room talking about, ‘what do you need to fix this,’ right? What do you need (General Manager) Brett (Veach)? What do we need Coach (Reid)? What are going to change to fix this, right? So, those are the conversations that were, you know, driven by Andy, like, this isn't happening again. And then I would just say, you probably have seen a little bit, I mean, ‘mindset’ is the theme this year, but the mindset of this team right now is… I saw it last night, I got to speak to the team last night, and, you know, there's a different tone, and I think it's commitment.”

Q: What did you want to get across last night?

DONOVAN: “So, my message to the team is much more focused on making them aware of the resources and the opportunity that's in front of them. So, our entire team, our entire organization, I mean the opportunity that we have, the stage that we're on, the success that we've had and also the business and the team popularity that we've built creates all kinds of opportunities for these guys, and we have resources for them, and we want to take advantage of those. But there are a lot of guys in that room who haven't been there before. So, we want them to know and be aware of the resources that we have at their disposal. They got a lot coming at them. And one of my messages is, our job is to eliminate distractions for you. And we got 300 people back in Kansas City, all they want to do is be good teammates to you. So just tell us what you need. So, the awareness of resources and communication channels open those up.”

Q: When do you anticipate the work after World Cup to be done before the season?

DONOVAN: “Yeah thank you for asking. Just to give you guys perspective, our team, our operations team has done just an amazing job. Think about four years of construction in between seasons. Think about getting ready with all the things we had to do, and if anybody went to the World Cup match and you saw it, Arrowhead just looked very different. That's a lot of work. So, they were grinding all the way through World Cup. And then just to be able to celebrate 415,000 people from all over the world coming through our building and all that created, these are the people who make that work. Think about this; the day World Cup ended and everybody's celebrating and patting each other on the back, they have about 28 days to do about 22 days of work to get ready for the NFL. So, they went from full sprint to full sprint to get ready for our first preseason game. And here's a perspective that I appreciate; at the end of that second full sprint, welcome to the NFL season. So that team deserves acknowledgement and that team frankly deserves a couple days off at some point because they've been grinding, but they've done an amazing job. We are in great shape, you know, the field has been taken out and replaced. People don't obviously know all the details, but you think about a soccer field, it's entirely flat, like level flat. Football field has a crown, so you're taking that out, taking all the technology out, putting the new one in, getting that right, putting the grass in, making sure it's growing correct. You're putting back all the seats that were out so that every single one of our Season Ticket Members is sitting in the exact seat they sat in last year without any change, fixing all the signs, taking that back down. And then there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes, suites, and clubs, and that media tribune that was put in there, you got to replace all that. So it's a lot of work, but our guys are going to get it done.”

Q: What was your perspective? What’s the upside of the World Cup just a month after?

DONOVAN: “Pride, to be part of this. I mean, the amount of work, (Chiefs Executive Vice President of Arrowhead Operations and Events) Matt Kenny from our team deserves a lot of credit. Think about the timing of this, and I'm telling you way too many stories, but think about the timing of this; I think the first discussion of World Cup was 2017 or something like that. It was crazy how long we've been doing this, and we were trying to figure out stadium where you stay and are we going, getting through a vote, and I just went to Matt and said, ‘look, here's your opportunity. I can't do this. I got to focus my time on the stadium. I need you to step up.’ And he did, and he took over the World Cup, and he's been sort of our point forward. So, really proud that all the work that was put in paid off. Really proud of this region, and proud to prove some of the things that many of us have been saying to the world and to the people in the other markets in the U.S. and the big event planners is Kansas City is special. You just got to come see this and you got to give us the opportunity. I remember when we went to the NFL, Clark and I went and had a meeting with (NFL Commissioner) Roger (Goodell) when the NFL Draft was announced it was going to Vegas, and this was right about the time they had just finished the stadium. And we went there, I don't want to say angry, but competitive, saying, ‘You got to start thinking about markets like Kansas City for the draft, because you're not going to give us a Super Bowl, and you're going to give Vegas a Super Bowl. You're giving them a draft and Super Bowl. Be equitable.’ And even then we had to convince the NFL that the draft would work in Kansas City. And then we pulled the draft off, right? We had to convince FIFA that World Cup would work in the smallest city they've ever been to in the U.S. And not only do we pull it off, we dominated. And I think I'll go back to what I said before, that puts us on a different level now, and that feeds right into the timing of this new building. So, I’m really proud that we were able to pull that off and what it means for our future.”

Q: One more question about this stadium, the budget, I wonder if it's the same after going through this design process, if you envision the cost change?

DONOVAN: “Very typical in these situations where there are two different competing forces, right? There's a designer and there's a construction manager. So, we took the last two designs to two different construction teams and said, ‘bid it, and tell us what it costs.’ And not surprisingly, they were way over budget. But they looked really cool. So that's part of the process is you have to sort of engineer some of the cost savings and do it. So, we'll be very close to budget. We've got some work to do to get there. One of the biggest things is we've got a massive parking lot. And it's a blank canvas, which is great. But you've got to also build infrastructure and a lot of things that cost a lot of money. So, we'll get there. I've worked with Clark for 18 years, so we'll be really close to the budget, trust me.”

Q: You spoke on this a bit, but I do wonder if you could elaborate on ways you think the World Cup boosted the ‘World's Team’ mission, despite, the fact of having Arrowhead be Kansas City Stadium and things like that.

DONOVAN: “Yeah, number one, it put us on a map internationally. Not only the exposure of the matches, but the exposure and the awareness from social media, content of foreign visitors to this region and the comments they made about Kansas City, which goes back to that pride point, but think about the things that you heard from those people; ‘They're so nice here, it's so easy here,’ right? All things that we know are true, but that was on an international stage. I would give you this one, it probably goes way too deep on strategy, but when you think about the commitment that (Chiefs Founder) Lamar (Hunt) made to being international and growing internationally, and the vision that he had to say, ‘That's where our growth is.’ In the ‘70s he's saying this. And then you think about the commitment that we have made, the resources we put against financial and personal resources, against growing and setting that goal. I know a lot of our fans are like, ‘Why do you spend so much time on international and branding?’ Think about this, just from a statistic standpoint, some sort of things that we look at that justify not only why we're doing it, but why the NFL is doing it. The World Cup final rating in the U.S. was 62.5 million, the largest in the history of soccer in the U.S., by a wide margin. The NFL will tell you, correctly, the Super Bowl last year was 125 million, double. Biggest, strongest, we make the statement a lot about how powerful the NFL is in the U.S. That Super Bowl did 125 million in the U.S. That Super Bowl did 200 million worldwide; 62.5 million people watched the soccer final in the U.S., 1.5 billion watched it around the world. Why do we want be the ‘World's Team?’ Because that's the opportunity. That's why we're doing all this. Because there's a huge market out there that we need to take advantage of. And the things we've done are working and we're going to continue to be committed to that, and that's sort of our north star.”

Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes

July 29, 2026

OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, as far as the injuries go, (LB) Ethan Downs had knee surgery, so that was from the rookie part of the camp. Then we've got a couple guys that were put on IR, he (LB Ethan Downs) being one of them, and then (TE) John Michael (Gyllenborg) was also put on IR. (DT Omarr) Norman-Lott is PUP, but working hard out here with our training staff and with strength coaches. And then (CB Mansoor) Delane worked, but just no contact with him. Then (WR) Rashee (Rice) and (CB) L’Jarius (Sneed), we had planned to get some work in, and then they went up mid-practice there and got some rehab done there. But it was all positive, it was planned, and we'll gradually ramp them up as we go. And then (QB) Pat (Mahomes) did everything, which is a positive there. Update on (Wife of Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) Mia (Bieniemy), Mia Bieniemy, she's doing great. She's doing better and great from where she was, out of the ICU unit and making progress. So, we're happy about that, and (Offensive Coordinator) EB (Eric Bieniemy) is still with her, and that part is important that that's taking place. I know we didn't mention (former Chiefs OL) Jordan Devey, who was a part of our group here for a few years. Those things, they rip your heart out. It's a sad deal, but listen, these things happen, and his family will adjust to it. Our prayers go out to them. Devasting thing, though. The stadium deal, I know (Chiefs President) Mark (Donovan) talked this morning. You guys have a lot of stuff here that you can write about and then (Chairman and CEO) Clark's (Hunt) talking this afternoon. From the coach’s standpoint, I think that's a beautiful thing, getting a new stadium, I think it's great for both Kansas and Missouri. (The) opportunity to have one of the first-class stadiums here, and with all the modern innovations that have come out in stadium building, it will be there. Other than that, time’s yours.”

Q: When we were out here on the weekend, you could feel Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s presence. In what way do you notice his absence?

REID: “Yeah, the other guys are–that's a catch-22 answer, because you just like the coaches that are out here. But (Offensive Coordinator) Eric's (Bieniemy) a big part of this, and so I love having him here, but right now it's important that he takes care of business, and everybody knows that. So, everybody's game is picked up, and they're working hard, and Eric will be back soon enough to jump in there and do his thing, but he's got to take care of that first.”

Q: The first few days of practice do you think QB Patrick Mahomes is looking like himself?

REID: “Yeah, he looked pretty good today, I thought. Strong. You see the strength in his legs, which is important with a leg injury. You kind of look at that first. See how his feet are moving, feet are moving well. So, I thought it was positive. I mean, I thought he looked well.”

Q: What have you seen out of WR Cyrus Allen so far? How is his chemistry with QB Patrick Mahomes developing?

REID: “Yeah, so (WR) Cyrus (Allen) had a good day today with him (QB Patrick Mahomes), and I think Pat's got some trust there. We've got a long way to go by it, but we’ve just got to keep going, keep growing.”

Q: What do you think WR Cyrus Allen has demonstrated that has allowed some of that trust?

REID: “He's (WR Cyrus Allen) got talent, obviously. He's been able to retain, plus he got a lead-up here for three days before he got out there today. So, the stuff that he was doing, he's been doing the last couple days.”

Q: Just overall, what observations did you have from this first day of all veterans, how they were reporting, and how everybody looked?

REID: “Yeah, so I thought the run test was as good as it's ever been. The guys did a nice job with it. I thought they came back in good shape, and they made it through today. We're in that ramp-up process, so an hour and 25 or whatever this one was. And then you kind of start kicking it up every day, and then when they get the pads on you back it up and you start kicking it up again. But the guys I thought ran around and did a nice job. I know those rookies were glad to have some long lines and they got the brunt of it with all the heat.”

Q: How much will having a guy like RB Kenneth Walker change the game plan aspect, the run game and what you want to do offensively?

REID: “I thought he (RB Kenneth Walker) looked good. Today, he's working through everything, smart kid, great diligence, wants to know everything and he's talented. That's kind of a good combination. So, it's just a matter of him feeling comfortable with everything. You don't do a lot of run game in this type of camp. You don't do (it) where you're in no pads and in OTAs, so it'll be good to get the pads on where he can work on that a little bit more but in the pass game, he's been working like crazy.”

Q: How much do you change what you want to do based on RB Kenneth Walker’s skill set?

REID: “I think we're probably going to run every down (laughter).”

Q: Do you have any idea when Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy will be back?

REID: “No, I just want to make sure she's (wife of Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Mia Bieniemy) taken care of and (son of Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) Eric Jr. too. And he's (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) got the other part of that that he's got to sort out. So, let him take care of that. We stay in touch with him and keep him abreast of everything that's going on. He's got the tape, he can watch with whatever spare time he's got there.”

Q: How important of a camp is it for WR Jalen Royals and what does he have to do to take some next steps?

REID: “He's (WR Jalen Royals) got a good feel for the game. He's just got to keep on with the reps and make sure he's got a good relationship there with (QB) Pat (Mahomes) and keeps developing that.”

Q: You are navigating a period of change with the first losing season since 2012. How do you navigate this period of change while looking to push the rookies a little bit?

REID: “Yeah, so listen, every year is different in the NFL. So we're not worried about what went on before. We're worried about right now and taking care of business there. And so that's where our focus is and in the National Football League, everybody's given an opportunity to do well and we're no different. So, let's take advantage of that and work our tail off and get a nice foundation right now so we can go forward.”

Q: LB Nick Bolton is entering his sixth season. What is different about this year?

REID: “Yeah, listen, (LB) Nick's (Bolton), first of all, he's got a phenomenal five years here. So, I wouldn't imagine it's any different. He's got full grasp of (Defensive Coordinator Steve) Spags’ (Spagnuolo) defense. He's kind of his quarterback out there, as you'd say, with the middle linebacker position. He's got to be the transmitter between the back end and the front end and everything else there, but I know he's in great shape. And he fights that just a little bit because he’s got to keep his weight up to play and there's a real balance there. And sometimes it takes guys a little bit to get used to exactly where that sweet spot is and he's been there the last couple of years with that and it looks like he's in great shape right now.”

Q: On if Head Coach Andy Reid is looking for any specific patterns or characteristics from QB Patrick Mahomes to indicate he is recovering from his injury.

REID: “Yeah. So, I'm obviously giving a close eye on him (QB Patrick Mahomes). I'm not the doctor, but I'm keeping a close eye on the small things, technique-wise. But he's prepared for those things and (Assistant Athletic Trainer) Julie (Frymyer) has done a great job with him, with his rehab of really giving him opportunities to push off, whether it's lateral or straight ahead to make sure he can escape as needed. He’s got good strength. You make good strength through the practice he’s been in, where he can still bend and throw and he trusts the leg to drive on it. So, I think those are all important things. I stand right behind him. So, we talk.”

Q: Year 14 for TE Travis Kelce. Does it surprise you at all that he’s still out there performing at a high level?

REID: “Yeah, he (TE Travis Kelce) looked pretty good. He looked pretty good. He stayed in shape. He did a lot of dancing at his wedding.”

Q: On what it means to have a leader like TE Travis Kelce in the locker room.

REID: “I know he's (TE Travis Kelce) a great leader and he works so hard and he wants to be in there. For a young guy to look at that, then it's hard for them to make an excuse to take a rep off because he's out there going. And if they try to get sneaky, he yanks them back in there. So, makes them go. That's always good to have.”

Chiefs Players Quotes

July 29, 2026

LB NICK BOLTON

Q: On the turnover on defense.

BOLTON: “Yeah, there’s been kind of a lot of turnover on defense. Our room has had a little less than others, other than we lost (LB) Leo (Chenal). But having a group of guys come in and every single day put their best foot forward, helping the young guys out, having some vet guys like (CB L’Jarius) Sneed, (DT) Chris (Jones), myself, (LB) Drue (Tranquill), (S) Alohi (Gilman) as well, just having some vet guys that have been there, helps me out along the way, helps (Defensive Coordinator Coach Steve) Spags (Spagnuolo), relaying information. And obviously we’re just laying the groundwork right now, trying to lay the foundation, give us a chance to compete. I think the young guys did a good job during OTAs, of absorbing knowledge, of retaining it and then coming out here on the very first day, minimizing mental errors and going out there and executing the game plan.”

Q: What does it mean to be in the University of Missouri Hall of Fame?

BOLTON: “Super special. A kid coming from Texas, (Missouri Defense Coach Barry) Odom took a chance on me. I was offered about two weeks before signing day. So, I told him man-to-man I will give everything I got to his program, give me a chance. Looking back on it, what is it, about nine years? Nine years from the first day in the building. Yeah man, super proud. Super proud to be a true son of University of Missouri. This place has been my home. Allowed me to be myself, allow me to grow into my own and grow into a man. I was super excited. They surprised me. I made a joke, I was looking for an old guy when (Head Coach Andy Reid) he first started talking about it, walking up. But yeah, I was super proud to be one of those guys.”  

Q: Can you speak on what the journey has been like, from when you were a kid on campus to now?

BOLTON: “Yeah, man, I just came a kid. Didn’t really know my place. I made a joke about being a short fat kid, about 5’10” 258lbs, kind of a chubby guy. Just trying to figure out my way, figure out what I wanted to be, how I wanted to be, and kind of who I wanted to grow up to be. Throughout the years man just every single day trying to put my best foot forward and trying to figure out what I wanted to do in my life, if playing football was my thing or not. I didn’t know if I was going to play or not. I didn’t play until midway through my first year. So, I think it’s been a long journey. I think it has been super rewarding. And yeah, just happy I took the chance to go to Missouri.”  

S ALOHI GILMAN

Q: We talked to you in the offseason, you mentioned it annoyed you when you make mistakes, do you feel like you’re further now than you were at that point?

GILMAN: “Oh yeah, 100%. I’m a lot more comfortable. I still got a lot of work to grow and continue to learn here, but I feel much better, more comfortable in the system. A lot of that has to do with just the chemistry as well with the guys and that’s coming along well. It’s been a good start.”

Q: What’s some of the things you’ve done to build chemistry since you got so many different personalities with players coming from different places?

GILMAN: “Yeah, I mean, just this group is just a little bit more quiet I’d say than other DB personalities that I’ve been around. It’s been a little bit harder to get the shell out of them a little more. I would take them out to dinner every week during OTA’s, we’ll hang out just little stuff like that. They’re a great group. I love every single one of them. They’ve welcomed me with open arms. They are just hard workers — just straight to the point. Kind of like me — kind of a no-nonsense, just get to work and get after it kind of people.”

Q: Do you consider yourself a vocal leader?

GILMAN: “Yeah, for sure. I mean you kind of have to be. I’ve evolved in that way as a player. I wouldn’t say I’m the loudest, but I feel like when I speak, my words mean a lot. I try to be as genuine as possible, and be a friend, be a brother and that’s kind of how I approach it.”

RB KENNETH WALKER

Q: You are well known for being a patient runner. Is that something that’s natural, or is it something you’ve developed? And how do you feel that’s going to help you fit into this defense?

WALKER: “I believe over the years, running the ball since growing up and working on my pops. Just seeing the defense is how I believe that’s how I really learned to be patient or explosive. It just depends on what the play is honestly.”

Q: What have you learned about training camp? Obviously, you have heard about it before, but this is your first experience here. What do you think about everything that goes on?

WALKER: “Yeah definitely. Today was more of a chill day, you know, acclimation period and getting used to everything. I already heard about how hard it would be and how hot it would be out here. I feel like that’s going to get us ready for the season and the games.”

Q: What impresses you the most about seeing QB Patrick Mahomes from day one of OTAs to seeing what you are seeing right now?