With the Chiefs (not the NFL, I could care less about the NFL as an organization) but the Defending Super Bowl Champion (It feels SO good to say that) season rapidly approaching, I came up with an all-time team--from the last 30 years, which is about when I started paying attention to football, so basically, none of the guys from the glory years of the '60s or the forgotten seasons of the '70s and '80s. Why? Because I had to have seen that player on TV to be included in this list. I also did a list for my 10-all-time favorite Chiefs players. So, here we go.
Quarterback: I mean, is there any other option besides Patrick Mahomes? My other options were Trent Green or Alex Smith, and they don't have anything on him. Transitional QB. Once-in-a-generation QB. Already has HOF and GOAT stats in his 2nd full season of starting.
Running Back: This was a difficult choice as the Chiefs have ALWAYS had really good solid running backs. I went with: Marcus Allen for obvious goal line situations, Jamaal Charles for burning past defenders, AND Priest Holmes for grinding out yardage. Kind of a backs by committee backfield.
Fullback: again, I had 3 really solid choices here, I chose between Kimble Anders, Tony Richardson and the Sausage Anthony Sherman. Advantage: Sherman. He is lethal out of the backfield and has good hands. Can't go wrong with any of them.
Tight Ends: There's clearly only 2 choices here: The best to ever play the game and the current best in the game. Tony Gonzalez and Travis Kelce. Who do I pick? Flip a coin.
Wide Receiver: this was tough as for the most part, the Chiefs haven't had a lot of standout receivers over the last 30 years. Some guys were one-season wonders and I consider having played for the team at least 2 years to be considered (although I made one exception on defense...stay tuned)
Tyreek Hill (clearly a no-brainer here) Fastest player I've ever seen, unbelievably explosive, and arguably the most dangerous offensive weapon in the league today.
Andre Rison: spiderman, he had a few good seasons later in his career in KC.
Dwayne Bowe: inconsistent but had a few good seasons, I almost see him being too big for the Chiefs current receiving core.
The others I considered: Derrick Alexander. Incredibly underrated receiver, put up some big numbers during the 2000 season, and Mecole Hardman. Like I said, only consider players who have played at least 2 seasons in KC, he was an electrifying rookie last season, and the sky is the limit for him. Drafted as a question mark surrounded Hill but he became an explosive return man and eventually wideout as well.
Now I'm getting to the positions that don't get a lot of love: the big uglies. The offensive line. The Chiefs have had some great lineman over the past 30 years.
Tackle: Willie Roaf and Mitchell Schwartz. Roaf is a Hall of Famer and Schwartz is one of the best but yet somehow still incredibly underrated lineman in the league.
Center: there was about 3 options here: Tim Grunhard, Casey Wiegmann, and Mitch Morse. I went with Wiegmann. Undersized and underrated.
Guards: Will Shields and Brian Waters. Shields is a Hall of Famer and one of the best to ever do it, and Waters went from a Tight End at North Texas to being so good but overshadowed by that Hall of Fame O-Line with Roaf and Shields.
K-Again, the Chiefs have had some pretty solid kickers the last 30 years, but I went with current kicker, The Buttkicker, Harrison Butker.
P-Any other choice but Dustin Colquitt here is wrong. Some years when the Chiefs were so bad he was their MVP.
Returners: I say have Tyreek Hill, Dante Hall, and Mecole Hardman all back returning kicks and let the fastest man win.
Now, on to defense. I did as both a 3-4 and a 4-3 scheme, as the Chiefs have had both schemes in the past 30 years.
Linebackers can intertwine here, and they have had some outstanding linebackers since 1990.
Derrick Thomas and Justin Houston are the outside pass rushers. Good luck defending them.
Derrick Johnson is the clear choice for middle linebacker, criminally underrated for almost 15 seasons in KC, Donnie Edwards would be the solid backup choice.
The only other choice I thought about for linebacker would be Tamba Hali, although he was more of a 3-4 edge rusher, so I don't know how I would make that work.
My defensive end in a 4-3 would be Neil Smith, and again, in a 3-4 I don't know who would be my linebackers and edge rushers. Too much talent which isn't a bad problem to have at all, figuring out how to utilize them would be.
And now to the big uglies on the D-Line. Chris Jones is the obvious choice here. I can't recall really any standout defensive lineman, so my only other 2 choices were Dontari Poe and Dan the man Saleamua. In a 3-4, I don't know how that would work. In a 4-3, Jones and Poe would stuff the middle.
Cornerback: I can't really think of any clear-cut number 1 or 2 choices here. Had Marcus Peters not had any off-field or being an idiot issues, he would be my number 1 choice. So instead, I went a little bit old school on my picks for corner:
Albert Lewis and James Hasty
Safety: this is where I made the one exception for having only played in KC one year:
Eric Berry is my obvious choice, he's kind of the biggest "what if" in Chiefs history. When healthy, there was no one better on the field, but injuries and cancer treatment hindered and shortened his career.
My other choice is the Landlord. The honey badger. Tyrann Mathieu. Replaced the best safety in the league with the other best safety in the league. My backups would be Deron Cherry and Dirty Dan Sorenson.
And lastly this list wouldn't be complete without coahes.
My head coach would obviously be Big Red Andy Reid. Did what no other head coach in 50 years who wasn't named Hank Stram could do. Won the Super Bowl. Marty Schottenheimer and Dick Vermeil would be my next 2 choices but they couldn't clear the hurdle of the playoffs. So advantage: Big Red.
Offensive Coordinator: Eric Bienimy. Has one of the most fun jobs in the world: drawing up plays for that high-powered offense
And my defensive coordinator would be the late Gunther Cunningham. You really think I was going to put Greg Robinson or Bob Sutton here?
That's 30-years worth of talent there. They've had some legends and it's so surprising there's only one Super Bowl to show for it. I hope that the Chiefs are the new dynasty in the AFC with the best QB and the most explosive offense in the league, and they are keeping the core together for years to come.
Now, it's time for my 10 all-time favorite players
1. Derrick Thomas. The GOAT. I met him at his house when I was 9, I took it so hard when he died, no matter who comes and goes for the Chiefs, he will always be my favorite.
2. Patrick Mahomes. Took the Chiefs 35 years to draft a QB in the first round, and the got one of the best to ever play trading up to get him.
3. Eric Berry. Became a bigger fan of him how he handled his own personal adversity after beating cancer and a ruptured Achilles. Dude was a warrior on and off the field.
4. Tony Gonzalez. The greatest tight end in history, and the player that actually had me pay attention to that position, before that they were basically a 6th offensive lineman who was a blocker and would occasionally go out for a pass.
5. Derrick Johnson. Even though he played at UT, I applauded him when the Chiefs drafted him. We share a birthday so I always had a soft spot for him.
6. Jamaal Charles. See above about Jamaal, UT product, but when you play for the Chiefs I don't care where you play at college.
7. Priest Holmes. See above above. Chiefs found a gem when they signed him from the Ravens, yes he had that all-world offensive line but he put up some BIG numbers.
8. Travis Kelce. The current best tight end in football. He's kind of a frat boy but he has a lot of fun doing what he does.
9. Justin Houston. Awesome pass rusher, looks weird seeing him wear 99 for the colts now.
And number 10, I had a difficult time with this one, but I went with:
Marcus Allen. He always showed Al Davis and the Raiders how washed up he was twice a year, always had a knack for the goal line, and by all accounts, seems like a really decent guy.
So that's it. That's 30 years worth of Chiefs players. I did some research, most of this was from memory.
