Tuesday, February 5, 2013

My Chiefs, Part I....

It's no secret...I LOVE the KC Chiefs!!

I have loved them since I was a little girl.

I had brothers, we watched a lot of football!! ;)

Yes, I know...last year was a bad year.  The year before wasn't that great either but I'm a fan for life and I will ALWAYS stand behind my team!!   Good Season or Not So Good Season and even the bad seasons. 

I will always love my Chiefs and this is why...

What you don't see when they are off the field is who they really are...they are dads, husbands, brothers, uncles, sons...

Not numbers on a jersey and positions on a team.

I'm going to share two special days with you in picture form.  Today is day #1. Let me give you the background and then you will get to see the day rather than read about it.

Day #1 (this entry) happened in November of 2010...and the Chiefs made the playoffs that year.

I have only shared this with a handful of friends and never shown the world the pictures.  We thought Braden was dying when this day happened and I've always kept it very private.  I want to share it now so you understand WHY I love my Chiefs and the Cassels so much!! 

This is one of our Top Ten Days EVER!

Lauren and Matt Cassel are truly two of the most kind, caring, genuinely sweet people I have ever met!

At some point, and honestly I don't even remember when, we came home and had a message from Lauren Cassel (the wife of Matt Cassel the KC Chiefs QB).

Not kidding.

She said she had stalked me to find our phone number. :)  Her brother had been following us on Twitter and he told her about Braden.

She wanted to know if Braden wanted to meet a Chiefs player.  I was stunned!! I said we would love to meet Matt and she said, "Noooo...really, any player he wants to meet!"

I assured her that we would love to meet Matt!

Well, Lauren and Matt moved Heaven and Earth and made something happen that I don't think happens very often.

Braden and Zach were invited to come out to the practice facility and play with "the guys". 

Seriously!!

That facility is locked down like Fort Knox!!!

So the boys got to play with Matt Cassel, Jeremy (I so cannot recall his last name...he was receiver),  and Tyler Palco (backup QB).

Tyler, unfortunately, made the mistake of telling Zach his sister called him "Ty Ty" when he was little...sooo...Zach still refers to him as "Ty Ty". LOL!

They played outside, they played inside, the went to the weight room....

and we had one of the most grand detours EVER!

(we even had a security guard with us at all times...seriously)! :)

Then they had pizza. Coach Haley asked them to call him when we went in to have pizza so he could come say hi again. I'll show you the first time we met him tomorrow. 

What a dream!! What a story to tell generations to come.. "one day I got to go play with the Chiefs"

AMAZING!!

It was UNBELIEVABLE and it is one of the many reasons I am a Chiefs fan and specifically a Matt Cassel fan.

Braden was having a lot of pain because the cancer was still in his bones and it was hard for him to run for very long, but he had so much fun. He never cried or wimpered one time!

He just LAUGHED and GIGGLED and SMILED!!

And these pictures show why if you talk trash about my Chiefs or any member of the Chiefs, I will take you out!!  LOL!  Just look at the smiles on my son's faces and you will understand why!

These people are in my heart forever and they gave my sons something PRICELESS!!!

No one asked them to do this...they offered because they cared.

They are GOOD PEOPLE!!! And my heart hurt every time someone said something critical about any of them this year.  Talk about football all you want, but please don't cut down the people!!

They are VERY special and they have brought a lot of love and joy into my sons lives...

and they have done even more for MANY kids after this through our foundation, not because the Chiefs told them they had to, but because they wanted to on their own time. Many players joined in and lent a hand...and they ROCK!!! 

www.BradensHope.org

TAKE THAT cANCER!!!

PS..the formatting on the pictures isn't working well...I'm sure it's "operator error" so if you want to see a picture closer, just click on it and it should enlarge and you can flip through them. I highly recommend you do this because you can see the boys' faces much better! :)

These are pictures of Matt Cassel...

(I actually made Matt a Bag-Tag with this picture on it and he put it on his equipment bag he took with him to every game!)



 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is Ty Ty :)
 
 
 


The Indoor Practice Field:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is Jeremy:
 
 
 
The Weight Room:
 
 
 
 
Zach and Ty Ty had WAY too much fun together!! :) I think Ty Ty must have been a very ornery boy when he was little...he's still got that ornery bit to him and he and Zach hit it off!! :)
 
 
 
 
 
And this is when mom said, "Zach, PLEASE don't break the QB!" :)
 
 
Pizza Time with the gang and Coach:
 
 
 
 GO CHIEFS!!!
2013 IS OUR YEAR!!!
 
And thank you Cassel Family!! We love you!!