NFL says Chiefs can host 2021 training camp in St. Joseph

The NFL is taking a big step toward making the 2021 NFL offseason a typical one for the Kansas City Chiefs.

As first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the league informed teams today that they’ll be permitted to host their training camp away from team facilities. Last season, the Chiefs were unable to follow through on their usual training camp plans due to the league’s COVID-19 restrictions.

In each of the last 10 seasons prior to 2020, the Chiefs had hosted their training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri at Missouri Western State University. Instead of going away last year, the team was forced to host training camp at their training facilities and Arrowhead Stadium.

With permission from the league, the Chiefs should be able to go back to St. Joseph this summer.

Now, it won’t be as simple as packing up the trucks and heading to St. Joseph. In order to go away for training camp, Rick Burkholder will be tasked with submitting an Infectious Disease Emergency Response (IDER) plan to the NFL. The challenge here will be the team figuring out how they can stay in compliance with the NFL and NFLPA’s policies related to COVID-19. The Chiefs were among the first teams in the league last season to submit the IDER plan when it came to initially reopening team facilities.

Clark Hunt recently spoke about the team’s desire to hold their training camp in St. Joseph. One thing that wasn’t covered in the NFL’s memo is whether fans would be permitted to attend training camp if it’s held away from team facilities. The preference would obviously be to get things back to normal with fans in attendance. Hunt did say the team would still want to go to St. Joseph even if fans were not permitted to attend.

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