Kansas City Chiefs Preseason: The Battle of Missouri, for Missouri

Friday Night (August 26th), The Kansas City Chiefs play their third preseason game at home against the St. Louis Rams.

Though this game could be used to show which is the dominant franchise in Missouri, it will instead be the feel-good story of the preseason.

ESPN reports that all of the proceeds from Arrowhead Stadium for this game will go towards relief efforts for the victims of the tragic tornado in Joplin, MO earlier this summer.

The damage from the tornado was estimated around $3 billion for the city of Joplin, but the emotional damage was much worse for the families of Joplin residents that lost their lives. The tornado itself took 159 lives and another was killed during cleanup operations the next day, making it the seventh-deadliest in the United States since 1947.

Fans of these two teams have been through some ups and downs, as they've both been rather inconsistent in recent seasons. Now that both franchises seem to be heading in the right direction, it's great to see that they are there for their fans as much as their fans have been for them.

Apart from donating the proceeds to the relief effort, the Joplin residents will all be able to attend the game while coaching staffs wear special hats and shirts to help raise awareness for the relief effort.

Chiefs president Mark Donovan says that the organizations are "hopeful that the Governor's Cup game will give much-deserved recognition to the volunteers who have helped in the progress so far."

After the long offseason filled with greed and labor disputes, it's nice to see that the organizations finally put the fans first for a change.

Even in the thick of the NFL lockout, players from both organizations pitched in with the relief efforts in the aftermath of the storm, despite the fact that they were completely separated from their organizations throughout most of the summer. It's organizations and players like these that truly make the NFL the greatest professional sports league in existence.

I'll reiterate that this game could serve its usual purpose in creating an enticing intrastate rivalry matchup, but both organizations agree that this preseason, it's about the fans.

St. Louis Rams chief operating officer agrees, saying, "It's always been an exciting game for us, but this game is about Joplin. We want to make sure that people don't forget and that this is an ongoing effort."

Joplin's citizens have had to deal with a lot of unpredictability this summer. Donovan said that the organization has "been inspired by the resiliency of the people of Joplin."

Hopefully, the Chiefs will be able to exemplify the same resiliency shown by their fans and return to the playoffs in 2011 atop a division full of unpredictability.