The Kansas City Chiefs have shared how the team plans to honor Krystal Anderson, a longtime Chiefs Cheerleader who died after giving birth in March.
On Tuesday, the NFL team stated on its website that it will pay tribute to Anderson in the upcoming season by having every member of the cheerleading squad wear a cuff on their right arm that features Anderson’s initials embroidered in white rhinestones.
Additionally, Anderson’s initials will be added to sideline padding near the 10-yard line on the field. The late cheerleader worked near the 10-yard line as a member of the squad’s alumni crew for the past seven years, the Chiefs said. She cheered for the Chiefs for over 100 games, from 2006-2011 and 2013-16.
Anderson died at age 40 of cardiac arrest caused by sepsis, a full-body infection, after she gave birth to a stillborn child on March 20, according to her husband.
Clayton Anderson has been outspoken in grieving his wife, who was Black, and highlighting the Black maternal mortality crisis in the U.S.
In April, he said health care systems should not use a “one-size-fits-all” approach to pregnancies, noting in an interview with ABC News that his wife’s pregnancy was high-risk considering her race, age, and the fact that the couple had experienced pregnancy loss before, in 2022.
“If we don’t make changes to how we take care of pregnancy, particularly Black women and women of color pregnancies, nothing is ever going to change,” he told Kansas City NBC News affiliate KSHB-TV at the time.
Krystal Anderson had also worked as a software engineer, where she was awarded a patent for her work “developing software that assesses the risk of post-partum hemorrhage,” according to her obituary.
The Chiefs Cheerleaders paid tribute to the cheer squad veteran in an Instagram post shortly after Anderson’s death in March.
“We will miss her kind spirit, joyful energy, and her sparkle,” the group said.
Former Chiefs cheerleader Mallorie Denmon, who cheered alongside Anderson, celebrated her late squadmate’s legacy in an article posted on the Chiefs website Tuesday.
“I just remember the sparkle in her eye,” she said.