The last 10 years could have unfolded much differently for Dane Brugler. Looking at his popularity now, however, as one of the most respected NFL Draft analysts around, it's hard to argue with his decision. Then again, working for the Kansas City Chiefs would have included some nice hardware as well.
Brugler is now the author of The Beast, an annual draft preview that's the behemoth of the industry that makes his work at The Athletic so revered. Brugler's content and analysis are second-to-none, which makes it easy to see why the Chiefs were ready to hire him—indeed, they did hire him—just over a decade ago.
When appearing on a recent podcast episode of NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov, Brugler spoke about his history of wanting a job with an NFL team and how he'd previously spurned offers in the past. But when it came to the Chiefs, he was ready accept the job—until he couldn't.
"So it was 2015 and I’d interviewed for a handful of teams, and it just never… either I just missed the cut or it just didn’t work out," said Brugler. "I’d turned down another job with the Raiders at one point because it just didn’t work out—the timing. But in 2015, John Dorsey, he gave me my first interview back with the Packers, he’s now with the Chiefs and he brought me in for an interview. Still obviously had that relationship. I felt really good about this one. I really wanted to work for the Chiefs and where they were at that point—Chris Ballard was part of the organization—they just had a really healthy organization. And so, I was like, ‘This is the fit. This is what I want.’"
But there was one problem: the timeline. The Chiefs asked Brugler to report to work in late July, which just so happened to be the exact same time as the due date of his first child. Just like that, a dream opportunity to work alongside Andy Reid and an organization on the rise was at odds with the needs of a growing family.
"I’m making this decision about this time, like mid-to-late June in 2015," said Brugler. "I have to make this decision about, ‘Okay, my wife is about to have a baby in a month-and-a-half, and I can’t leave her by herself obviously in North Texas.’ She didn’t really want to go back to Ohio by herself, where she didn’t have her doctors and all that. Our house and everything, we couldn’t move in that quick period. She would have went to Kansas City, but that would have been hard to do that in such a short time period while she’s pregnant. And so I made the tough decision and told Dorsey and Ballard. I was heartbroken about it. This is what I had sacrificed for was to get this opportunity, but I had to tell them no. Family comes first, and the timing just wasn’t right. "
Even though the Chiefs were the ones spurned in the process, Brugler says the team actually responded favorably to his decision. Specifically former Chiefs exec and current Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard provided some emotional support and understanding.
"I still have a voicemail on my phone from Chris saying, ‘Hey man, you made the right call. I’m proud of you.’ Chris is a big family guy. He’s got a lot of kids himself. He was really supportive of that decision. I think it was at that moment when I started having kids that I was like, ‘You know what? As much as I want to be in the NFL, the media thing is really taking off. It’s really going well. I think I’ve established credibility with people and there’s enough of a following where people trust what I’m doing and the work I’m putting out.’"
While Brugler has missed out on the chance to build a dynasty, he's also built a kingdom of his own as a leading authority on a topic that's become a year-round obsession for NFL fans. And as he's leaned into the work, he's also realized that he's still doing much of what he hoped to do while working in the front office at Arrowhead.
"Working with scouts every day that are in the league and those friendships—that matters to me. I have so much respect for what they do. So even though I wasn’t doing that in an official capacity with the team, I’m still doing it from an outside perspective. I still do that to this day. I mean, I’m talking to scouts every single day about different things, so I still get that aspect of it. And I get to kind of work with 32 different teams instead of one organization and be beholden to whatever they’re looking for in that process."
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