The Kansas City Chiefs treated Joe Staley poorly on draft day in 2007 and it cost them in the end. Here’s the entertaining story.
Joe Staley waited on the phone believing he would be a Kansas City Chief. In the end, he hung up and waited several more picks.
The longtime San Francisco 49ers left tackle recently told his draft day story over at his team’s official website, and it’s a very interesting story of how one team came oh-so-close to securing one of the NFL’s best offensive tackles and then let him get away.
Staley said the Chiefs called him back in the 2007 NFL Draft as they were set to pick at No. 23 overall. Staley was a first round prospect from Central Michigan and was expected to be taken around that area of the draft. The Chiefs called and then asked him to… hold on?
"“(The Chiefs said) ‘Hey Joe, stay on the line, hold on,'” Staley said. “I just sat there for five minutes, then they came back on and said, ‘We’re going to go with the other guy? Alright. Hey Joe, best of luck.’ Click."
The “other guy” was wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, certainly a solid performer for the Chiefs who even led the NFL in touchdowns a few years later. The Chiefs needed help at wide receiver and enjoyed solid production from the rookie from Louisiana State over the course of his 9-year career. In fact, Bowe is third on the Chiefs all-time receiving list behind Otis Taylor at No. 2 and, of course, Tony Gonzalez at No. 1.
Despite the solid seasons and overall production for nearly a decade, Bowe has definitely been outplayed in his career by Staley, a fortunate find for the Niners just five picks later. Staley has enjoyed three All-Pro seasons and six Pro Bowl nominations in a very productive career that is still going strong.
Imagine if the Chiefs had actually picked Staley that night. There’d be no Eric Fisher or at least he’d be playing on the right side, which would mean no Mitchell Schwartz. Perhaps a bit more success would even mean no Andy Reid or John Dorsey for that matter. Or maybe Staley would have been a good player on a bad team and we’d end up right here anyway.
Either way, these draft stories are always fun to hear. Check out Joe’s full story below: