KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Kansas City Chiefs face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, there will be special guests in attendance — thousands of health care workers from around the country, including Keith Brink.
“I wear Chiefs stuff," he said. "I wear Royals stuff. People at the hospital know I am a Kansas City guy for sure."
Born and raised in Lee’s Summit, Brink ended up in Tampa after serving in the Navy.
He works as an anesthesiology assistant at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. And like many health care workers, he said 2020 was extremely hard.
“Rules were changing from hour to hour,” he said. “We couldn’t get masks appropriately, eye protection. Everything was just on a short supply. It was definitely stressful.”
To say thank you for their work, the NFL is inviting 7,500 vaccinated health care workers from around the country to attend the game.
As a lifelong Chiefs fan and current health care worker living in Tampa, Brink’s father thought he had a good chance of scoring a ticket. When it came true, even he could not believe it.
“I appreciate the NFL for doing this,” Paul, Brink’s father, said. “They are our frontline defense on getting over this pandemic. Keith has been a real standup guy when it comes to going to work every day, not missing a day. I appreciate the NFL for rewarding them.”
