We're through 10 numbers into our trip through the Kansas City Chiefs' jersey history, and No. 11 finally hands us a number with some real weight behind it. It's a number that leans heavily toward quarterbacks and receivers, with a couple of Super Bowl rings, a Pro Bowl or two, and a single win for People's Sexiest Athlete. But let's start with the one who deserves as much attention as we can give him.
The Underappreciated Hero: Alex Smith
Not enough ink has been spilled celebrating Alex Smith's tenure with the Chiefs, so we're doing our part here to remind everyone of the story.
When the Chiefs dealt two draft picks to San Francisco for Smith, they were coming off of arguably the single lowest point for a franchise in NFL history. For younger or newer fans not old enough to remember, it's hard to impress just how toxic things had become in Kansas City in 2012: a two-win franchise with a fan base collectively paying for planes to fly banners over Arrowhead with the words "Save Our Chiefs". And that's not including a linebacker who murdered his girlfriend and then drove to Arrowhead to commit suicide.
Coming into 2013, the Chiefs needed a complete organizational reset with Andy Reid as head coach and John Dorsey as general manager. The pair agreed that Smith was the QB to handle things on the field, and Smith more than delivered as a team leader and Pro Bowl performer. Across five seasons in K.C., he threw for 17,608 yards and 102 touchdowns against just 33 interceptions, made three Pro Bowls, and posted a league-leading 104.7 passer rating in 2017.
Even beyond all of that, Smith was the consummate professional when the Chiefs made it clear they were handing off the torch to Patrick Mahomes. What should have been a distracting and dramatic scenario became an ideal reality as Smith enjoyed his best season before accepting a trade away to the Washington Redskins with the same high-character demeanor that exemplified his tenure in Kansas City. Smith is an all-time great who will someday be in the Chiefs' Ring of Honor.
The Sexiest Option: Elvis Grbac
Grbac's tenure in Kansas City features two stories that are both associated with Rich Gannon. The on-field one goes like this: He signed with the Chiefs in '97 to replace another former 49ers QB (Steve Bono) and went 8-2 in his first year before an injury would open the door for Gannon, who was QB2. Head coach Marty Schottenheimer never wanted anyone to lose their job due to injury, so despite Gannon's strong leadership and success, he allowed Grbac to return to his post, where the Chiefs went one-and-done in the postseason. The Chiefs would ultimately let Gannon leave for the Raiders, where he won an MVP award, and fans have been relitigating the decision ever since.
The off-the-field story is even better: In 1998, People named Grbac as its "Sexiest Athlete", except the magazine originally intended to honor Gannon instead. As sportswriter Jeff Pearlman has recounted, a photographer was dispatched to shoot "the Chiefs quarterback," and Grbac had returned. No one discovered the error until the interview was finished, and the whole thing went forward despite the switch.
But Grbac deserves some credit. He made his only Pro Bowl appearance while in K.C. in 2000, when he threw for 4,169 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also holds the single-game passing yards record in Chiefs history with 504.
The Drop-Inclined Deep Threat: Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Brought in on a 3-year, $30 million deal in 2022 to help bolster the WR corps after the Tyreek Hill trade, Marquez Valdes-Scantling served up some good and bad memories. On the one hand, he was a true field-stretcher with deep speed for an offense that needed that element. On the other, MVS could also lose the ball at the worst possible moment. He even scored the Chiefs' first touchdown in their Super Bowl LVIII win. That said, Valdes-Scantling's production cratered to a career-worst 21 catches in his second year in K.C., and a reputation for untimely drops led even Nickelodeon to make fun of him in a promo. The Chiefs released him in February 2024 for cap purposes, and MVS has played for six different teams since then trying to find a new long-term home.
The Dependable Target: Demarcus Robinson
If MVS was the boom-or-bust deep threat, Demarcus Robinson was his opposite in a way. A fourth-round pick out of Florida, Robinson spent six seasons steadily doing exactly what a lower-tier WR should on a contender. He never cracked 500 receiving yards in a season, but he enjoyed plenty of highlight moments—including an 89-yard catch that was Patrick Mahomes' 50th touchdown pass of the 2018 MVP campaign. He drove Dave Toub crazy for failing to actually run forward, but no one can deny Robinson's contributions during some exciting offensive years.
The Surprisingly Decent QB: Damon Huard
Huard was pressed into a starting role after Trent Green was injured in 2006 and turned in some solidly efficient results in the process. Huard was a journeyman backup who somehow found his way to 21 starts over three seasons in K.C. for Herm Edwards, but that says more about the desperation at the position than anything else.
The Solid Waiver Claim: Chris Chambers
Yes, the Chiefs should have left Chris Chambers as a nice waiver claim and nothing more, since they got very little out of the three-year, $15 million they committed to him in 2010. However, Chambers joined the Chiefs midway through the 2009 campaign and provided an instant offensive boost with 36 catches for 608 yards and 4 touchdowns in 9 games following his release by the Chargers.
Et Cetera
- Tony Adams, QB - Won the WFL's MVP award in 1974 with the Southern California Sun after he threw for 3,905 yards in a league that folded. Then went 1-7 as a Chiefs QB and proved the magic doesn't transfer.
- Carson Wentz, QB - A former MVP candidate who found a gig in K.C. as one of several veteran QB's to serve as Mahomes' backup on a one-year deal.
- Josh Bellamy, WR - A forgettable wideout who spent 2012 on the team's practice squad and is more famous for fraud charges than anything else.
- Jalen Royals, WR - The Chiefs can only hope their 2025 fourth-round pick is anything more than a footnote after basically shelving him for his entire rookie season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google