The Kansas City Chiefs have a new edge rusher after Round 1 of the 2023 NFL draft, adding Kansas State’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah at pick No. 31. He was a very explosive and exciting player at the college level and he’ll look to carry that over into his NFL career.
Here’s a quick look at four things the Chiefs Kingdom should know about their newest player:
He's living out a childhood dream
Anudike-Uzomah is one of the only people who can say that he was drafted by his favorite team while the NFL draft was hosted in his hometown.
“I got drafted by literally my favorite team growing up,” Anudike-Uzomah told reporters on Thursday. “So, it’s just definitely a dream come true.”
A Kansas City, Missouri native, Anudike-Uzomah attended Lee’s Summit High School before going on to play college football at Kansas State. He earned First-Team All-State honors as a senior from the Missouri Football Coaches Association (MFCA).
He even says that Chiefs football helped grow his passion for the game from a young age.
“It’s (my) number one love,” Anudike-Uzomah said. “I remember going to my first Chiefs game back when I was seven years old, from there I just fell in love with this.”
He mentioned the Matt Cassel-era Chiefs and watching the 2011 team beat the undefeated Green Bay Packers. It’s safe for fans to say, “he’s one of us.”
He should have tied the NCAA single-game sack record in 2021
In 2021, Anudike-Uzomah should have tied the single-game NCAA sack record. He recorded six sacks against TCU in Kansas State’s 31-12 victory, but two of those sacks were later not counted as he recorded forced fumbles on the play.
From Touchdown Wire via the Kansas City Star:
K-State originally declared that Anudike-Uzomah had six sacks, which would have tied the FBS single-game record, but the NCAA later ruled that two of them didn’t count. Why? They weren’t technically even tackles because he forced fumbles on both of those plays and each fumble resulted in positive rushing yardage for TCU when the Wildcats jumped on the loose balls after crossing the line of scrimmage.
Elvis Dumervil (2005 Louisville vs. Kentucky) and Ameer Ismail (2006 WMU vs. Ball State) currently hold the record with a tie at six sacks apiece.
His career at Kansas State was quite decorated
Anudike-Uzomah led a highly decorated career with the Wildcats, logging the majority of his snaps over the past two seasons. He was a two-time First-Team All-Conference selection (2021, 2022). In 2022, he earned First-Team All-American, he was twice named the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year (2021, 2022) and once named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (2022).
He finished his college career tied for sixth in Kansas State history in career sacks (20.5). He was tied for fourth in career forced fumbles (8). He also became just the second player in school history to tally three games with three or more sacks joining former DL Nyle Wiren.
Anudike-Uzomah attended the 2023 NFL draft, but not how you'd think
Anudike-Uzomah attended the 2023 NFL draft, but not in the way you’d think. He wasn’t one of the 17 prospects invited to attend in the green room, but the Kansas City native was actually wandering around the festivities at Union Station with fans none the wiser.
Early Friday evening, Felix Anudike-Uzomah hopped in a car and drove the half-hour to the party taking place outside Union Station in downtown Kansas City.
He would later joke about the obvious irony of it — tens of thousands of football fans gathered on the lawn to watch the NFL Draft, and none of them knew one of the prospects had easily blended in among them.
By night’s end, they’d nearly all know his name, at least.
Read more on Anudike-Uzomah from Kansas City Star columnist Sam McDowell here.
