Who are the best undrafted free agents in Kansas City Chiefs history?
For the 61 years that the Kansas City Chiefs have participated in AFL and NFL Drafts, teams have drafted approximately 250 players each year, and many of those have gone on to have legendary and Hall of Fame caliber careers.
However, for the players that do not get selected by a team during the annual selection meeting(s), becoming an undrafted rookie free agent (UDFA) is the last chance to make it in the professional ranks. Most of those players, of course, never make it on a 53-man NFL roster. But some ultimately stick around, and the ultra-rare—the true diamonds-in-the-rough—have gone on to be Pro Football Hall of Famers.
Some more notable examples of this phenomena include Hall of Fame quarterbacks Warren Moon and Kurt Warner, both of whom joined the NFL after going undrafted.
The Kansas City Chiefs have often been buoyed often by these unheralded prospects turned stars. In fact, at least one set of all-time rankings features three former Chiefs among the top 25 UDFA’s in NFL history.
But who have been the best of the best? Which players have gone from undrafted, unrecognized, and unheralded to truly outstanding? We count down the top five.
(For simplicity, we’ve considered any player who was once an undrafted free agent, who played the majority of their careers in Kansas City, regardless of which team they initially signed with after the draft).