KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Each year I cover Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri, I'm reminded fans come from all across the country, hoping to create a new memory or have a personal moment with a member of the team.
Earlier this year, I had a Chiefs family from Iowa reach out to tell me about the awesome connection between their two sons and the Chiefs' two recent Super Bowl titles.
Brian and Amy Ettleman of Denison, Iowa, have had some great Chiefs training camp moments over the years.
"We got Patrick Mahomes’ autograph on a jersey," Brian told me. “We've gotten selfies with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. All these guys are just fun to be around, and they're friendly about it."
Their Chiefs fandom is about more than selfies and autographs, though. Amy was pregnant with their oldest son when the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2020.
When it came time to name him?
"We bounced around with Patrick, of course. Travis, Kelce if it was a girl, maybe...” Brian said.
But they settled on “Big Red” himself, and Andy Charles Ettleman was born. Charles is Brian's dad's name, and his initials honor Ace, Brian's father's cousin, with whom Brian was very close.
"I worked at a gas station that he owned for 10 plus years, changing tires and oil, and so just kind of all tied together and fit really well," Brian said.
Little Andy fit right into the Chiefs family dynamic, even dressing as his namesake on his first Halloween and picking out a KC Wolf doll on his first trip to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Fast forward to 2023 and another championship. Brian and Amy are expecting again, another boy, and the name was pretty obvious.
"The night that they won the Super Bowl in February of this year, we were sitting here right afterward, and I said to my wife, ‘I think we gotta name this kid Reid,’" Brian told me.
Reid Ames (they're an Iowa State Cyclone family) Ettleman. His initials honor Amy's late grandfather Ray.
Little Andy and Reid won't be coming to training camp this year, but Brian would love to get a picture with both boys, his dad, Ace, and Coach Reid one day, or he'll settle for a cheeseburger with Coach Reid.
As for the future, I asked Brian if we can expect any other Ettlemans to come along.
“Well, we had several people say that we need to have more kids just in order for the Chiefs to keep winning Super Bowls,” Brian told me. “But as far as we're concerned, we're done. No more.”
Brian will be at camp in early August this year, but Andy and Reid will stay home with Amy.
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