NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero says the National Football League has told all 32 clubs that fans will be allowed to attend their training camps that are set to begin later this summer. This clears the way for fans to travel with the Kansas City Chiefs to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, for the first time since the COVID pandemic began.
While this is only the first step towards getting back to normal, all 32 clubs will have to adhere to city and state regulations to have the all-clear to allow fans back at camp. Thus, fans will still have to wait for the Chiefs to give an official statement before being allowed to travel to St. Joseph.
According to Pelissero, the league’s executive VP of club business and league events, Peter O’Reilly, said the NFL is still working with the NFLPA to finalize a protocol that will dictate just how close to ‘normal’ training camps will be this year. This means autographs and proximity fans will be allowed to get to players will look a little different compared to past seasons.
Even though Chiefs’ training camp is expected to be different in some way, being able to have fans in attendance will be a welcomed sight as leagues take a major step to get back to normal. All that’s needed now is for the club to have full support from the city of Kansas City and the State of Missouri to give fans the green light to attend camp in late July.
Pelissero also reports the league plans to have a unified start for camps this season. 29 of 32 clubs are scheduled to report Tuesday, July 27. Exactly 47 days before Sunday Week 1 as allowed by the CBA. The league plans to have league-wide practices and fan events on Saturday, July 31.
The teams participating in the Hall of Fame Game and the Thursday night season-opener (Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers) will begin their camps, respectively, later.
For Chiefs fans, the soonest they could get an early look at the 2021 team will likely be July 31.
