By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — With the Super Bowl in the rearview, all eyes in St. Joseph are turning to ensuring the return of Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp this summer.
Mayor John Josendale says the effort to keep Chiefs Training Camp at Missouri Western is a combined effort between the city, Chamber of Commerce, Mosaic Life Care, as well as Missouri Western.
Josendale says the Chiefs are very demanding with Chiefs President Mark Donovan wanting every year to be bigger and better.
"Last year we kind of did that, so this year doing it with the world champion Chiefs and being able to do it in St. Joe, we're looking forward to that," Josendale tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. "So, we're going to plan for them being here, hopefully that comes through in the next couple of months that they're here, and we'll build on that."
Chiefs Training Camp has been hosted at Missouri Western State University since 2010, except for the COVID year. Josendale says currently the deal being negotiated is on a year-to-year basis.
"We know that we did very well last year, that we got very strong reviews, we know that Andy Reid does like being in St. Joe," Josendale says.
Josendale says it's also well known that the players enjoy being here as well.
"They come up here, they stay, they get away from the home life in Kansas City or wherever they're from, it blends them together and puts them in together to where they build that team comradery," Josendale explains.
The Chiefs would be coming back to St. Joe as world champions, after defeating the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. Mayor John Josendale says he thinks it's fair that St. Joseph can take a little credit for that, as the place that journey started.
"We put our best foot forward when we show the town at that, and this is something that's really exciting, not only for us, but when Kansas City wins a world championship, St. Joe wins also," Josendale says.