Kansas City Chiefs coach’s wife gives fans team-issued gear

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Earlier this year, Carlie Ellett, wife of Chiefs assistant running backs coach Porter Ellett, was looking to give away some of her teams gear after the season ended. She was specifically looking for fans with the same right arm amputation as her husband.

Porter Ellett is 8 years oldth the season with the chiefs. He lost the use of his right arm in an accident when he was 4 years old. It was surgically removed when he was 16.

“Chiefs fans: I need help finding someone to take this Chiefs gear off our hands,” Ellett said in a video posted on TikTok. “One really great thing about our fitting staff is that they are really nice and sew all of his shirts closed for him. I remove his sleeve and then sew it for him. We’re very grateful, but it also means that at the end of the season, when he brings all these things back, obviously we can’t keep them all.”

Ellett says he used to have a contact in the military who would find Chiefs fans with the same amputation, but they’ve since retired, which is why he turned to social media.

One commenter on the video is Scott Lunsford, a Chiefs fan from Wichita, KS.

“I had a friend who followed her,” Lunsford said. “He texted me and said you have to go to Coach Ellett’s wife’s TikTok. She’s trying to give away some of his old snot, and she’s looking for someone with one arm.”

So he did, and he and another fan got the gear in the mail.

“Timing is everything, right?” Lunsford said. “I had just heard about Porter’s story about a month or two before. I didn’t even know there was a person on the coaching staff that had an arm like me. Lo and behold, I had the same arm amputated and the same type of surgery.”

Lunsford made the decision to have his arm amputated after twice battling bone cancer in his 30s. He is now celebrating 17 years of being cancer free.

Lunsford has been cheering for the Chiefs for over 25 years. He says his new gear makes watching his team that much more special.

“Even as an adult, you never lose that inner child when you’re a sports fan,” Lunsford said. “You’re looking at something that was actually issued by your team and worn by a coach who coached, high-fived, advised, corrected and supported the players you’re watching on Sunday. Just to be able to see someone like me out there doing what they love and not holding it back is an impressive thing. I’m glad he’s on the Chiefs.”

Ellett says they enjoy giving away gear to deserving fans at the end of the season and plan to continue doing so.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.