Kandace Kmet’s ‘mother’s intuition’ led her to jump at the chance to attend the Chicago Bears game in Charlotte. Her son Cole rewarded her with his first NFL touchdown.
Kandace Kmet was a long way away Sunday when her oldest son, Cole, caught his first NFL touchdown pass. The view from Section 205, Row 19, Seat 13 at Bank of America Stadium wasn’t perfect for the 9-yard bullet the Chicago Bears rookie tight end caught on the opposite end of the stadium in the first quarter.
But, hey, Kandace was a heck of a lot closer to Cole than she had been for his previous five games with the Bears, which she watched from the couch at the family’s Arlington Heights home.
The adrenaline rush and goosebumps she experienced when Cole broke into the end zone and came down with a Nick Foles fastball amid traffic will beat HDTV anytime.
“My initial reaction,” Kandace said, “was, ‘Thank God I’m here!’ ”
After the Bears' 23-16 defeat of the Carolina Panthers, Cole was similarly ecstatic. His score, on the offense’s third play, put the Bears ahead to stay less than 4 minutes into the game.
“Obviously, it’s a dream come true for me,” he said. “It was just pretty sweet.”
Sometimes things just have a way of falling into place and working out.
It wasn’t until midweek that Cole realized fans would be sprinkled throughout the stands for Sunday’s game in Charlotte, N.C. With a chance to snag a ticket, he pounced and then started brainstorming with his mom on how they might make something happen.
Kandace already had a flight scheduled to Florida for the weekend to pick up her daughter, Frankie, who has been studying remotely near Naples this semester. The two plan to drive back to Chicago together this week.
But with the gates opening to a small number of fans for Sunday’s game, was there possibly a way to pull off a side trip?
“There was just something about it this week,” Kandace said. “I had a feeling. Mother’s intuition.”
She was in.
The flight change proved simple. Plenty of open seats available these days. So Kandace made her way to O’Hare on Sunday morning for a 7:19 flight, landed in Charlotte 2 1/4 u00bd hours before kickoff and was in the stadium with plenty of time to settle in and appreciate her good fortune.
“She was waving like a madwoman pregame,” Cole said. “I found her and gave a little wave. She was pumped up.”
Kmet’s dad, Frank, would have loved to have attended too. But with Cole’s youngest brother, Cooper, in seventh grade and quarantine restrictions still a part of everyday decision making, Frank agreed to stay back.
Instead, Kandace was accompanied by a family friend and his 13-year-old son who live in North Carolina. Officially, they were part of an announced crowd of 5,240 in the 75,000-plus-capacity stadium.
Kandace was the most excited of that bunch when Cole made his first catch in four weeks, this one in the end zone on the bullet from Foles.
“The ball wasn’t really supposed to come to me,” Kmet said.
Sometimes things just have a way of falling into place and working out.
The play the Bears sent in after a timeout and a brutal delay-of-game penalty was originally designed for Foles to find running back David Montgomery leaking out of the backfield. But the Panthers coverage convinced Foles to kill that call, switching the Bears into a play they hadn’t practiced in a while and freeing Kmet for his big opportunity.
“We hadn’t thrown that route all week,” Foles said. “But there was just something in my gut where I’m like: ‘I’m going to pull this trigger right here. He’s going to catch it. We’re going to go.’ And that’s football sometimes.”
After the snap, Kmet sprinted to the goal line and broke to the post. He was pretty well-covered by safety Jeremy Chinn with fellow safety Juston Burris closing in behind him when Foles let it rip.
“Just a faith throw that Nick made,” Kmet said. “Obviously cool that a guy like that was able to trust me in that situation to go make a play.”
Good body control. Sure hands. Kmet made the grab.
As he celebrated with Anthony Miller and Allen Robinson in the end zone, he heard the buzz in the small crowd. However small that might have been, it was a welcome oddity this season.
“That was sweet,” Kmet said. “You forget about that.”
Of course, he knew his mom was across the stadium, making some of that noise and soaking it all in.
“I know this meant a lot for her,” Kmet said.
After the win, with the Bears improving to 5-1 for the first time since Cole was in eighth grade, he found Kandace in Section 205. But they were too distant for their communication to make much sense.
“She was just screaming,” Cole said. “I didn’t hear a word she was saying. But she was excited.”
Kandace was actually yelling for Cole to toss up one of his gloves for the 13-year-old in her group. Alas …
“We were too far away,” Kandace said. “They had pretty good restrictions established still.”
And that was that. Kmet had a victory celebration in Club Dub to get to. Kandace had to race back to Charlotte Douglas International Airport for her evening flight to Florida.
As she prepared to board, she still hadn’t talked to Cole but felt deeply proud that he had gotten a reward for his continued hard work and patience. She was told Cole seemed pretty juiced during his postgame Zoom interview with the media.
“Awesome to hear,” Kandace said.
What a day.
“What a day is right,” Kandace said. “That’s for certain. I’m so glad I didn’t miss this. Honestly, it made it feel for once like this is all for real — that he’s actually in the NFL and playing for the Bears.”
Sometimes things just have a way of falling into place.
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