KC Chiefs earn abysmal grades in anonymous NFLPA survey

Boy, it’s tough to read through the anonymous player grades given to the Kansas City Chiefs in a new NFLPA survey.

On Wednesday, while the entire league is assembled in Indianapolis for the 2023 NFL Combine, the National Football League’s Players Association decided to release its first-ever Team Report Cards. They are the results of a wide-ranging anonymous survey of players about various aspects of a team’s care for players and their families.

The sheer size of the survey itself is impressive, and it’s easy to see that this is likely going to turn into an influential and important tool for players going forward. Over 1,300 players were asked to give qualitative and quantitative answers about a number of aspects of their respective teams—from  the state of a team’s weight room to travel conditions to the treatment of players’ families.

According to NFLPA J.C. Tretter, the goal was to provide information previously lacking to players about the realities of being with a particular organization. For example, if a player like Mecole Hardman has only ever been with the Kansas City Chiefs, then he might not realize what things would be like for him behind-the-scenes with another franchise. And while a visit would reveal some of that, an anonymous survey “would not only help them make important career decisions, but it would also help raise the standards across each club.”

What was so shocking about these “team report cards”  is just how poorly the Chiefs fared in most categories. For a team known for its positive organizational culture and an unprecedented stretch of success, the Chiefs fared among the worst teams in the NFL in a number of categories—some of which is actually unsettling.

Some things are more easily overlooked or should be viewed in proper perspective. Younger players complained about having to have roommates at times and some players felt they didn’t have enough room to be comfortable on flights. If those are the major concerns, it’s easy for most of us to say, “Welcome to the real world.”

But those issues were just part of a more frustrating larger picture in which the Chiefs come up short in important categories, including the way they handled injuries. The Chiefs ranked dead last in the NFL in the “training staff” category with specific critiques from players centering on head trainer Rick Burkholder. The report notes that players felt “discouraged from reporting their injuries” and “fear retribution for speaking up for better care”. Players also said the Chiefs failed to have enough certified athletic trainers on hand.

While the Chiefs were among the worst teams in nearly every category, it’s this area that’s the most concerning given that player safety should be of paramount importance for the team—winning or not. It’s frankly a bit shocking to read these sorts of accusations since Burkholder is typically painted in such a positive light and the positivity in Arrowhead is notable enough for players to want to come and be a part of it. Perhaps winning does cure everything.

It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs and other organizations respond to the survey—again, the first of its kind. Tretter expressed that the NFLPA is hoping information leads to action and the Chiefs could likely make a few key changes or updates and alter these grades considerably with more personnel and better accommodations or stadium upgrades. For now, however, the Chiefs aren’t ranked among the best in the NFL at something—the first time we’ve seen this in a long time.