Chiefs sign Lithuanian discus thrower who has never played football
The Kansas City Chiefs have signed Lithuanian discus thrower Tautvydas Kieras.
The Kansas City Chiefs are leaving no stone unturned on the talent hunt. The team recently signed a Lithuanian discus thrower named Tautvydas Kieras, who goes by the nickname of TK. TK has never played a down of organized football in his life.
Why would the Chiefs sign a guy who has no experience actually playing football?
Because Kieras is an absolute monster.
TK is 6-3, 271 and after taking a liking to watching American football, he decided to take part in the Mississippi State University pro day. He ran an unofficial 4.69 40-yard dash, bench pressed 220 pounds 24 times and recorded a vertical of 35 inches.
The measurables were apparently enough to convince Chiefs GM, John Dorsey to take a flier on Kieras. KC will try him out as a linebacker.
I love when the Chiefs do things like this. It’s a big world out there and not every kid and every country has had the opportunity to play football. If a prospect like Kieras has overwhelming physical tools, why not give him a shot to learn the game on the practice squad? Most bottom of the roster/practice squad guys never work out anyway so it makes sense to take some chances on players with high upside.
Freakishly gifted athletes don’t always make good football players. Still, sometimes, athletes just need a little seasoning to reach their potential. While it is not exactly the same thing, many folks predicted that Chiefs DT, Dontari Poe was nothing but a workout warrior. Poe was not virtually unknown as a college player and didn’t get the full attention of NFL scouts until he showed his athletic potential at the NFL Scouting Combine. We all know how that turned out.
Obviously, there is a much bigger learning curve for Kieras than there was for Poe but it seems as though the Chiefs are willing to take a small gamble for a potentially large payoff.
What do you think, Addicts? Will you be rooting for Kieras to master the game and make the Chiefs’ roster? Or is this signing just a novelty we will have all forgotten about come September?