KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eileen Weir has served as the mayor of Independence, Missouri, since 2014. But before her time in politics, she worked for the Kansas City Chiefs.
From 1992 until 1999, Weir worked in the team's public relations department, managing media relations.
On Wednesday morning, the day after John Madden's death, she tweeted some of her memories of his visits to Arrowhead Stadium in the 1990s.
"When John Madden came to Arrowhead to do the television broadcast, it was an event," Weir said. "Grand entrance in his massive bus and a bigger-than-life personality. I always had to get him fried chicken from S.A. Sanders to have at halftime. [I'm] Grateful to have known Coach."
Weir shared more of her memories with KSHB 41 News.
"When we got Joe Montana and Marcus Allen, it feels like that was kind of probably the first year that they came and did our game, because they were the "A" team, and they always did the national games," Weir said.
Madden famously traveled by bus to all of the games he was broadcasting.
"I mean, it was an event all in itself," Weir said. "I mean it was like a media event when he arrived. He would always come early, go to practice and all the players wanted to come over and shake his hand."
Weir described Madden as being down to earth, but said there was always one specific request that had to be met when he came to Kansas City.
"He always had to have fried chicken at halftime," Weir said. "My friend Pat Sanders, who had S.A. Sanders across the street from the stadium, would bring fried chicken over to the broadcast booth."
Weir says Madden would have admired the young stars on the Chiefs roster now, and the feeling would have been mutual.
"I'm sorry these young players now don't have the chance to get to know him," Weir said. "He definitely was an icon in the game, without question one of the all time greats."
