On a goodwill trip to the Kansas City Police Department Special Operations Division last month, Chiefs defensive lineman Xavier Williams was stopped in the parking lot. A friend from his youth in south Kansas City, now a policeman, recognized him and they chatted for several minutes before exchanging phone numbers.
“Things like that didn’t happen in Arizona,” said Williams, who until this offseason played for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL.
Since Williams, who played at Grandview High, signed with the Chiefs, he has run into and heard from too many friends to count. That is among the happy developments he shares with fellow athletes from Kansas City who suit up for the teams for which they cheered as youths.