The Kansas City Chiefs’ specialists went on a field trip across the parking lot on Wednesday.
Harrison Butker, Dustin Colquitt and James Winchester all had a chance to practice on the infield dirt at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals. Why did they practice on the dirt? Because this week they will visit the Raiders at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and since it’s baseball season, that means the Chiefs and Raiders will be playing football on a dirt baseball infield. To the casual fan, it may not seem like something that should impact the game, but the difference between the grass at the stadium and the infield dirt is striking, especially for specialists.
Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney learned about this field trip first. Later, Colquitt took to Twitter to share some photos from the field trip. Check them out:
The dirt infield poses a big challenge for kickers, holders and long snappers. Getting footing as a kicker, getting the football down as a holder and even snapping the ball as a long snapper is different on the dirt. It’s a heads-up move by the Chiefs to reach out to the Royals and practice for this.
It poses a challenge for offensive and defensive players too. Players have said it’s a lot less comfortable to get tackled on that dirt than it is to get brought down on the grass. Additionally, footing can become problematic without the right type of shoes. Hopefully, the equipment staff will be well prepared with the best types of cleats available for this situation.
It’s always enjoyable to see the Royals and Chiefs supporting each other. It’ll be great if the Chiefs can credit this practice for an eventual win.
