Sept. 10 marked the beginning of the 2020-2021 National Football League as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium.

The last time these two teams faced one another was on Jan. 10, in the divisional round, where the Chiefs came back from a 21-point deficit to defeat the Texans 51-31 at home.

There had been speculation earlier in the year that the 2020-2021 season would be postponed or canceled due to COVID-19, but for the first time in seven months, the NFL was soon to kick off.

For most teams, fans would not be allowed in stadiums for week one games, however, the Chiefs faculty felt strongly in their ability to keep fans safe.

The first game of the season was to be played in front of 17,000 fans.

At the start of the game, the national anthem was played. The Texans team returned to their locker room while many of the Chiefs players remained on the field.

Following the anthem, the NFL elected to play a song that was supposed to raise awareness concerning police brutality and promote unity, as many professional sports organizations have chosen to do.

This song was to be played at all home games for the first week of the season. Following the song, both teams stood together linking arms to stand in unison for a moment of silence to promote unity, this is where the controversy began.

During the moment of silence, numerous Chiefs fans began to boo.

Some players on the field remarked that they heard the boo’s, while Chiefs Quarterback, Patrick Mahomes and Head Coach, Andy Reid stated that they did not hear them.

I personally did not hear anything while watching on my television. It was not until I checked twitter to find videos posted by fans in the stands where the booing of the moment of silence was clearly audible.

Now more than ever, politics are everywhere and in our face. It is hard to escape from them. From the opposing agendas rigorously pushed by FOX and CNN, to the politicization of a deadly virus, it seems America is at a political rift which has not been seen in many years.

Now, I understand not wanting politics mixing with football. It is hard to find a platform or idea that does not have politics involved or is politicized, however, coming together in a display of unity to attempt to show that we as humans, are all the same at a core, should not have any political implications.

If anything, this should be a strong point to all political agendas.

The booing indicated that a faction of Chiefs fans are poorly misguided and out of touch with many of the problems minorities in America face on a day-to-day basis.

I do not think the ludicrous booing from fans represents Kansas City as a whole, as many residents were quick to voice their dissenting opinions towards the misguided booing from fans. As someone who grew up in Kansas City, I would not take the population as intolerant, and the booing from fans over a non-politically charged message really took me by surprise.

It is easy to be afraid of something you do not know anything about, so here’s to hoping the future does not repeat itself as more people come to understand what unity means now, and what it can mean in the future.