The Kansas City Chiefs have selected their drum honoree for the AFC divisional round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pro Football Hall of Fame RG Will Shields will return to Arrowhead Stadium to serve as drum leader on the GEHA drum deck on Saturday. Last year, Shields served as an honorary coin toss captain in the AFC Championship Game, but this time around he gets to lead the team and fans in their pregame tradition.
A former third-round draft pick out of the University of Nebraska by Kansas City in 1993, Shields played for 14 seasons with the Chiefs, starting 223 games during his career. He earned 12 consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 1995 through 2006, with two consecutive First-Team All-Pro selections in 2002 and 2003. He’s one of the few players in Kansas City to have earned the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award (2003).
There’s perhaps no better player to help set the tone for this playoff matchup. Shields played his last career regular season game against the Jaguars in Week 17 of 2006, winning the game 35-30. He was one of the NFL’s best interior offensive linemen for his entire playing career and should have no problem getting the raucous crowd at Arrowhead Stadium fired up before the first playoff game this year.
Other pregame entertainment includes international award-winning recording artist Michelle Brooks-Thompson singing the national anthem ahead of kickoff. The Kansas City Kansas Police Department will present the colors during the anthem. There will also be a flyover conducted by four F-16s from the 138th Fighter Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, weather permitting as always.
The team also announced that Atlanta-based rapper Lil Jon would be performing at halftime during the game.
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