KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the organization celebrates another Super Bowl run, it's also honoring the fans that have been cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs through the good and the bad — the Chiefs cheerleaders.
"Well, I was in two seasons — I was 81 and 82," said Kelly Faso, a former Chiefs cheerleader.
When Faso was a Chiefs cheerleader in 1981 and 1982, there wasn't a whole lot to be cheering for.
The team went 3-6 in the '82 season and hadn't been to the Super Bowl since the 1969 season. Despite that, Faso decided to try out.
"I did it on a dare because the casting call came out, we were listening to the radio in the car and they did the casting call — 'Come down and try out for cheerleading.' Faso said. "And he's like, 'I bet you could never do that.' And I was like, 'What did you just say to me?'"
Faso set out to make the squad and she did.
Faso said 1,200 girls tried out and only 12 made it, including herself.
After spending two seasons on the sidelines of Arrowhead Stadium, Faso returned once more during the regular season to perform with hundreds of former and current Chiefs cheerleaders as they celebrate 60 years.
"Well wow, wasn't that an honor. Like who would have ever thought, that's what I would have told all my friends too," Faso said. "Here I am going to be 60 and it was the 60th anniversary, it was kind of like an anomaly — everything was working out."
The only thing Faso didn't have the chance to do — cheer for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
"Back in the day when I was a Chiefs cheerleader, it was a hope, a wish and a prayer," Faso said.
Those dreams becoming a reality in a way.
To celebrate her 60th birthday and the 60th anniversary, Faso is traveling to Arizona to cheer on the team she always has, only this time, not from the sidelines.
"For it to all be about the number 60, for me is really endearing and it means a lot and I'm excited," Faso said.
—
