Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Pete Mundo on KCMO’s Mundo in The Morning live from the Kansas City Chiefs training camp to discuss his impressions of the team as they prepare for the 2025 NFL season, as well as priorities for Senate Republicans returning to Washington.

During the interview, Senator Marshall described his experience at the Chiefs’ practice camp as fulfilling a childhood dream. He said, “This is a boyhood dream coming true to be here at the Chiefs practice camp. I got to say hi to Coach Reid. He’s looking really good. He looks very healthy. He’s excited and very positive. He’s just so committed, just bragging how hard the guys are working here as well. Mitch Holthus is around. He’s a fellow Western Kansaner, so it’s great to see him. He’s optimistic. I think we got a great season ahead of us.”

Senator Marshall also commented on Coach Andy Reid’s presence at camp and his apparent good health: “Well, he just [I] think he looks really, really good. And you know, the stress of this job must be tremendous, but he leads us. As a doctor. I’m telling you, he looks great, and we’re happy with that. We got Patrick Mahomes out here punting. Did you know that Pete, Patrick Mahomes, is out here punting the ball around?”

Regarding the team’s outlook for 2025, Marshall observed strong morale among players and staff: “Yeah, I think [I] just notice people’s hop in their step. And that’s what I saw when I went down to visit the military and the border, the ICE officers, the border patrol officers, the military all had a hop in their step – and that’s what I see here at Chiefs camp. I see a hop in their step. I think that they’re excited about the season. You know, Travis Kelce looks like he’s a Greek god again. He’s talking about the MAHA movement. He’s out here, just in great shape and determined. I think there’s just an element of determination. And just looking in their eyes, you and I have been around some really successful teams before. It starts with leadership. I’m proud of Patrick Mahomes, his leadership, his values, [and] the culture that they’ve created. It feels like a family occasion here, more than I was expecting. The Chiefs fans feel like family members and the Chiefs players. You can just see the interaction – that they enjoy being with each other.”

He described an enthusiastic fan turnout at training camp: “You know, first of all, there’s barbecue going on. So they’re out here tailgating. I can smell the barbecue going. These are the Chiefs’ faithful. These are the base, you know, President Trump talked about his base. Well these are the Chiefs base fans that they love The Chiefs... No one’s really feeling the heat... Practice will be done...about 10:30 am or so...We’re going to do a little seven-on-seven here in a second with some live contact..."

Marshall also addressed legislative matters facing Senate Republicans as Congress reconvenes in Washington this week: “We need to get the government funded...So there’s 12 buckets of funding for federal government...for appropriations...we just control about 20% of budget...everything else is on autopilot...Medicare Social Security those are on autopilot....we’re going to get three maybe four of those buckets done this week if Chuck Schumer doesn’t try to just stop this...These came out of committees with like a 27 to nothing vote on Ag appropriations....26 to two vote on military construction and VA as well....So hopefully we’ll get those across finish line this week.”

The bipartisan committee support referenced by Senator Marshall reflects recent developments where appropriations bills for agriculture and military construction passed through committee votes with broad support.