NFL Kickoff 2020: Chiefs Fans Allegedly ‘Boo’ Players During ‘Show of Unity’ at Season Opener

Before the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans kicked off the 2020 NFL season on Thursday night, the teams got together at midfield to lock arms and observe racial justice with a moment of silence. But as players engaged in the moment, a few of the over 17,000 Chiefs fans in attendance allegedly booed the players during the moment of silence. Per the NBC broadcast, as reported by NFL.com, the following messages were shown during the moment of unity: “We support equality. We must end racism. We believe in justice for all. We must end police brutality. We choose unconditional love. We believe Black lives matter. It takes all of us.”

“I thought that was kind of a neat deal, both sides coming together for a cause and the story was told there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said who also mentioned he didn’t notice the booing, as reported by ESPN. “We can all learn from this, and really it’s just to make us all better, even a stronger country than we already are. We have a chance to just be completely unstoppable when all hands join together and that’s a beautiful thing.”

Before both teams locked arms at midfield, the Texans stayed in the locker room during the national anthem and the Alicia Keys’ performance of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” which is considered the Black national anthem. Texans executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby said the team did so there would be “no misinterpretation of them celebrating one song and throwing shade on the other.” He also said the move is “not about Black or white; it’s about change.”

“I thought that that was a nice thing to do, so I’m not sure why they would boo that,” Texans head coach O’Brien said when asked about the booing. “Maybe they were just booing us ’cause we had just come on the field as the visiting team. But yeah, I thought that that was a nice gesture.”

As for the game, the Chiefs defeated the Texans 34-20. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdowns in the win while rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 138 yards and one touchdown.