EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — While most of the rooting interest will be on Philly’s side in the area, there are still plenty of Kansas City supporters throughout northeastern and central PA.
A lot of them may be in Northumberland County, since for the third time in four years, a Mount Carmel native has played a huge part in getting the Chiefs to the big game.
Nearly three decades after winning a state championship at Mount Carmel, and after becoming a Super Bowl champion general manager, Brett Veach hasn’t forgotten his roots.
“Having the change to be a general manager of an NFL team, there’s probably not a football Friday that I’m not thinking about Mount Carmel, not a football Friday where I’m not calling my dad, asking how the team did,” said Veach.
Veach had the coaching bug even during his time at Mount Carmel and the University of Delaware. He joined Andy Reid’s staff with the Eagles in 2004 as a coaching intern, eventually becoming a scout. And when Reid joined the Chiefs, Veach followed, working his way up to the position of GM in 2017 with Reid’s guidance.
“Kind of taught me all I know in this business. Grew me from a young intern to a general manager. So I would say all the credit or at least most of the credit goes to him,” stated Veach.
Veach adds the things he learned from his family, coach Whitey Williams, and the Mount Carmel community helped shape his future in football.
“They’ve kind of taught me with regards to the work ethic and the value of football and what football can do for you. Just blue collar people that do things the right way, work hard and have a passion for what they do,” recalled Veach.
Now Veach is on the verge of his second Super Bowl title with a revamped Kansas City roster that he helped re-build, and standing in the Chiefs’ way is the team with whom Veach got his start in pro football.
When asked how rewarding has this year been doing it with this roster, Veach responded, “This is gonna be a heavyweight match and I think it’ll be real exciting for the fans. I’ll have some fans in the Mount Carmel region and area but I know Pennsylvania is excited to watch the Eagles in the Super Bowl, so it’ll be a lot of fun, should be a really good game.”
