Despite mediocre seats and frigid temperatures, Daniel Collier talked for years about the Kansas City Chiefs’ Dec. 29, 2019, Week 17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
With the Chiefs winning and the Miami Dolphins defeating the New England Patriots, Collier’s Chiefs received a first-round bye in the playoffs and went on to win their first Super Bowl in half a century.
The Chiefs have also won the last two Super Bowls.
Collier wore number 15 to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes when he played football.
However, Collier, a 15-year-old, was a fan long before things took off.
“He was a Chiefs fan before it was cool to be a Chiefs fan,” said his father, Mike Collier. “You know, even when we were losing, you know?”
Daniel Collier died after he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle Wednesday evening near 44th Street South and Hoover in southwest Wichita.
The 35-year-old Wichita woman driving the vehicle remained at the scene.
Family and Collier’s favorite teacher remembered him as an outgoing teenager who loved sports, Jordan sneakers, model cars, shopping and car lessons, and he planned to one day work on rockets at NASA.
Brett Marrs was Collier’s favorite teacher at Campus High School, where Collier had just completed his freshman year. Marrs taught shop. He was also Collier’s track coach.
“He always had a smile. Very determined person to succeed and do well. I wanted to do well, wanted to please teachers and coaches, and tried to make everyone happy,” Marrs said of Collier. “And he had personal bests, you know, he set a goal at every meet to break his personal PRs. Yes, he was very goal-oriented.”
Collier’s parents said their son was a crafty teenager.
“He was a man,” Mike Collier said.
Nicole Collier added that “he was an all-rounder.”
“He laughed really weird, but it just puts you in a good mood, especially if you knew you had a hard day or something, he was just joking and he laughs about it, and makes you laugh about it,” she said.
On Mother’s Day he got her flowers and an iced coffee. She told him not to spend his money on her.
“And he says, ‘No, I love you, Mom, you deserve it,'” she said.
Collier was the third of four children. He had always been on the shy side, but became more outgoing as he got older.
He also started mowing lawns in the neighborhood and used the money to buy Jordan sneakers. Collier enjoyed spending time with his grandparents, who lived nearby in a neighborhood where he also mowed lawns.
He was wearing the first pair of Jordans he ever bought with money from mowing lawns the night he was hit.
Collier was also a Disney fan. The family usually tried to go to the theme park once a year. He had packed his bags and was counting down for the trip next month.
Neighborhood children and friends created a memorial for him where he was hit. The family plans to have him cremated.
“If we go on vacation, maybe we can take it with us, or, you know, take some of it with us,” Mike Collier said.
One of Mike Collier’s colleagues has set up a GoFundMe to help with medical and funeral expenses. The fundraiser reached nearly $37,000 on Saturday, well above the $20,000 goal.
The fundraiser can be found at shorturl.at/YNDXU.
