Yesterday marked the debut of Episode 4 of the Kansas City Chiefs’ behind-the-scenes documentary series, “The Franchise.” The episode, titled “The Non-Season,” can be viewed in its entirety below. The episode covered some things happening this offseason such as the first-look event at OTAs, Chiefs Huddle for 100 at Lincoln College Prep Academy, a look into production day and the Big Slick Celebrity Softball game. It even takes a glimpse into the personal life of Chiefs wide receiver Gehrig Dieter and his wife, Meg.
Andy Reid might live at the Chiefs’ facilities
The episode opens with Chiefs general manager Brett Veach driving to 1 Arrowhead Drive to start the workday. He started explaining how he’s rarely, if ever, beaten Andy Reid to work.
“It’s 4:30 in the morning and I can almost guarantee that I won’t be the first person here in the morning,” Veach said. “If there’s one thing I could certainly bet my life on, it’s that Coach Reid will be here. I swear the guy says he goes home, but I don’t think he goes home.
“It doesn’t matter if it was 4:10, 3:30, 4:15, his car is always the first one here. And I’d like to say I beat him to the office, but over a decade I can probably count on one hand how many times I actually beat him in, because it’s near impossible.”
You can’t beat someone to work if they never leave. It just goes to show that relentless work ethic that Reid has, which has made him one of the best innovators and coaches in the NFL for a long time.
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The offseason is actually the ‘non-season’ for players and staff
“Offseason” is really a word meant more for the fans than anything else. For the players, this time is really known as the “non-season” because their work truly never stops.
The Chiefs’ VP of Sports medicine and performance, Rick Burkholder, spoke a bit on this.
“In 2013 we came in here with a lot of fire, and that fire may be greater right now than it has ever been,” Burkholder said. “Most of my neighbors, even my two daughters and my wife, sometimes think it’s the offseason, but it’s not, it is ‘non-season.’ It’s just ‘non-season’ for us.
“But my wife said the other night to me, ‘You’re exhausted.’ And I said, ‘I am exhausted, but it’s training camp mentality in minicamp.’ I’ve never experienced it before. These guys don’t leave. We get done, we get off the field at 2:30. They’re here until 7 at night working on their craft. It is exhausting, but it’s for a great goal at the end.”
When players and coaches say that this year is different, think back to this statement by Burkholder. The staff and players are going that extra mile on the practice field and in the meeting room.
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Clark Hunt’s relationship with the players is unique
One moment that this week’s episode captured that I really enjoyed was a brief interaction between rookie WR Mecole Hardman and Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt. Typically you don’t get to see how ownership and players interact, but this gave us a glimpse into how Hunt treats players on the team.
“How you doing?” Hunt said to Hardman.
“Good, how you doing?” Hardman replied.
“I am good — good to see you,” Hunt responded. “How are OTAs?”
“It was all right,” Hardman said.
“Yeah? Not too much running,” Hunt joked as they both laughed. “Come on. Come on. An Andy Reid offense, there’s going to be some running.”
“Yeah. You get accustomed to it,” Hardman replied.
Not the most profound moment, but it’s really cool to see Hunt and Hardman interacting this way in a professional environment. Hunt seems to be extremely relatable and with a young rookie player too. I’m not sure this type of interaction happens in other buildings.
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Veach has a sense of humor about being the fun police
You might remember earlier in the offseason when Veach had to shut down Patrick Mahomes, who was spotted playing pickup basketball at a recreation center in Overland Park, Kansas. It appears that Veach is having a bit of fun with his role as the fun police.
“Hey, I told (Eric) Stonestreet,” Veach said to Mahomes at the Big Slick KC Charity Softball Game, “when you go up to the plate, I think I might run up there and grab the bat off of you and give you (Dikembe) Mutombo [finger wag].”
“Yeah! Yeah, they’ll love it, they’ll love it,” Mahomes said excitedly.
Mahomes seems to be a good sport about this keep him safe at all costs attitude. But when you have other NFL players leaping over Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, a little recreational basketball doesn’t sound too bad.
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