Notebook · Story

The Day I Signed with the Kansas City Chiefs

May 17, 2019

Ben in a blazer holding his personalized red Chiefs jersey, NIEHUES IV number 4, in the Arrowhead locker room between the Fuller and Mahomes stalls. — Fig. 01 My locker. Number 4, between Fuller and Mahomes. · Andrew Mather

My adrenaline hit an all-time high as I waited to run out of the Arrowhead home tunnel for the first time. While I waited for Mitch Holthus to announce my name over the speakers, the years of hard work flashed before my eyes. Every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears. Every meeting, conference call, and line of code.

Wait. What?

I work at CommunityAmerica, a credit union here in Kansas City. A few months before I started in November 2017, it became the Chiefs’ banking partner, and not long after, Patrick Mahomes signed on as spokesman, right before he threw the first of his fifty touchdowns that season. It’s the kind of place where the CEO once bought every employee a Mahomes jersey for Christmas. All 700-some of us.

In May 2019, I got picked along with three coworkers to go to Chiefs Fantasy Camp. We started with a reception with Mark Donovan, signed one-day contracts with GM Brett Veach, and picked up our gear.

That’s the same one-day deal Jamaal Charles, Derrick Johnson, and Dwayne Bowe each signed to retire as Chiefs. So, technically, I retired a Chief that summer too.

The next morning, after breakfast in the Players Café, Andy Reid coached us up and we broke down film with Mike Kafka and Dave Merritt. Then the skill stations: three-step drops with Warren Moon, routes with Christian Okoye and Eddie Kennison, blocking with Will Shields, splitting the uprights with Jan Stenerud, fielding punts with Dante Hall.

Ben and his team in a huddle on the field as Christian Okoye, in a number 35 jersey and white Chiefs bucket hat, gives a pep talk. — Fig. 02 Christian Okoye, getting our minds right. · Andrew Mather

After lunch with Harrison Butker, Derrick Nnadi, and Andrew Wylie, we finished with a 7-on-7 flag football tournament. In the locker room, our coach, Christian Okoye, got our minds right with a pep talk and led us down the tunnel. My body was shot out of a cannon when Mitch’s voice rang through the stadium: “...from Kansas State University and a Corning Lion, number 4, Ben Niehues!”

The games were a blast. We lost the championship in overtime, but Hannah and my biggest little fans were in the stands for my first touchdown catch in Arrowhead.

Ben in his red Fantasy Camp jersey holding the football in the end zone as the referee raises both arms to signal a touchdown. — Fig. 03 The touchdown. · Seth Laubinger

I was sore for three days. Worth every minute, and the proceeds went to the Center for Concussion Management at The University of Kansas Health System, which does real work on concussion care for the whole community, not just athletes.

I still can’t believe I got to do this.

Ben in his red Fantasy Camp jersey running onto the field and high-fiving the Chiefs mascot, KC Wolf. — Fig. 04 Out of the tunnel, past KC Wolf. · Seth Laubinger

Ben, Hannah, and their two young sons together on the Arrowhead field under a blue sky. — Fig. 05 Hannah and the boys. My biggest little fans.