KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the 2023 NFL Draft kicks off in Kansas City, taking over televisions across the country and the world, a special song will open the broadcast.
Sada K. is a recording artist who grew up in South Kansas City and has lent her tremendous voice to sporting events before, but this will be her biggest stage yet.
When the Kansas City Royals won the World Series in 2015, I started a conversation with Sada that's lasted to this day, the 2023 NFL Draft.
"When the Royals won the World Series. It was that season. I got to sing the national anthem," Sada told me.
We got together for an interview to mark the moment then that means so much to her, and talked about what it still means so much today.
"Our interview was special to me because we got to do it in my mother's home and it was at a time in our lives when she was fighting for her life," Sada told me. "She was battling breast cancer. She has since passed, but I definitely cherish that interview so much. The way she talked about my love for Kansas City, how much love I received here... it meant the world to her. Now that we're here together again it's just like honoring her but also honoring how you honored my mother during that time."
Eight years after our World Series conversation, I learned Sada was part of a top secret video shoot showcasing Kansas City; One that needed a Kansas City singer center stage.
"It has been awesome working with the NFL. I don't know, I may have manifested this because I talk about the Chiefs so much and my love of the Chiefs, so it has been awesome. It's like a full circle moment," Sada told me.
I asked her about the moment when the NFL Draft broadcast starts, and, after seeing her face and hearing her voice, what that moment might be like?
"I'm about to cry right now," she replied after I asked the question. "I can't even talk. It means so much to me. I'm going to think of my mom. Just what this means to me. I love my city so much. I love my city so much and I want to be able to represent them well and make them proud."
Making Kansas City proud was a prediction her mom, Ileana Watson, knew would come true.
"I've been hearing her all the time, but I actually went back to that interview and I remember her saying at the end of it... 'Sada is always going to make Kansas City proud,'" she told me.
"It reminded me of who I am, what is possible and who I do it for. Kansas City is always going to be at the top of that list."
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