KC Chiefs are a legitimate, unlucky, and unfortunate mess
By Grant Tuttle
Top 5 Kansas City Chiefs villains
1. John Elway
In Denver, they call Elway “God.” In Kansas City, they don’t. Elway was Kansas City’s boogeyman from 1983 to 1998. Although Elway finished with a record of 18-12 against the Chiefs, his reign over Kansas City went deeper. Whether it was the game in which Elway complained about crowd noise and refused to snap the ball or the game that Elway led the Broncos to victory on a pass to Shannon Sharpe in1993, Elway has always been despised in K.C.
Today, Elway still represents the most hated sports figure in Kansas City. While the Chiefs don’t worry about late game touchdown passes from Elway any more, it seems likely that he will always live in Chiefs fans’ nightmares.
2. Lin Elliot
To this day, you cannot discuss Chiefs history without someone bringing up the “Lin Elliot game.” To most NFL fans, this has a vague meaning. To Chiefs fans, the pain from the 1995 Divisional Round game is still very real and raw.
In this game, Elliot was very much unlike himself. While he was typically a reliable kicker, he fell apart at the worst possible time. In a 10-7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Elliot missed three field goals that would have won or tied the game. Although, I was not personally alive for this moment, I can’t help but feel bad for Elliot and how he has been remembered in Kansas City.
3. Peyton Manning
Although Manning is not hated the way that John Elway is, he has agurably done more damage to the Chiefs over the course of his career than any other quarterback in NFL history. Whether with the Colts in the playoffs or the Broncos in the regular season, Manning wreaked havock on the Chiefs.
In Manning’s career he was 12-2 against the Chiefs. During his time with the Broncos, he absolutely owned Kansas City; ending his run with Denver with a 7-1 record against them. Notably, Manning and the Colts defeated the Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the playoffs of 2004. Despite a valiant effort from Priest Holmes, who rushed for 176 yards and 2 touchdowns, the Chiefs were unable to make a critical stop and Manning ran out the time on the Chiefs season.
Heartbreak after heartbreak, Manning terrorized the Chiefs throughout his career.
4. Tom Brady
While Tom Brady has owned the rest of the NFL, he has not had quite as much success in Kansas City. While he currently holds the series over Patrick Mahomes’s Kansas City Chiefs, he only leads the series in his career by two games with a 7-5 career record against the Chiefs.
Unlike Manning, Tom Brady is a whiner, which makes him easy to dislike. Additionally, the only fanbase that isn’t tired of Tom Brady is Tampa Bay. I would venture to guess that he would be labeled a “villain” for a lot of teams, but he has been a legitimate problem for the Chiefs for a long time. While the Chiefs have moderate success against him, he seems to win in the most important moments. This series is likely not over and the Chiefs will be looking for revenge after the last meeting in the Super Bowl.
5. Ben Davidson
For the more “seasoned” Chiefs fan, Ben Davidson is a name that you certainly remember. For those who don’t, Ben Davidson was a defensive end for the then Oakland Raiders. He was known for being the reason that the “Davidson rule” was created. In 1970, the “Davidson Rule” outlawed hitting players who had given themselves up. Essentially, this is where the modern-day quarterback slide came from.
Little did some of the readers know, Ben Davidson was responsible for this rule after something he did against the Chiefs. Len Dawson scrambled on a third down to convert and went to the ground late in the fourth quarter. Davidson, likely frustrated that the Chiefs would likely hold on to win, drilled his helmet into Dawson’s lower back after the play was over. Davidson will live in Chiefs lore as “the guy who speared Len Dawson.”