The stories told around No. 35 in Kansas City Chiefs history are all disproportionate. It's about Brett Veach landing two impactful cornerbacks for pennies on the proverbial dollar. It's about a svelte linebacker who was worried he wouldn't even weigh enough to make the team and then provided seven years of production. And it's certainly about a man who led the NFL in rushing only a few years after he literally touched a football for the first time.
Our journey through Chiefs history, retelling the most memorable stories from 1 to 99, brings us to No. 35, and we begin with the obvious: the Nigerian Nightmare himself.
The Nigerian Nightmare: Christian Okoye
There is no debate as to who the best player is to ever wear No. 35.
Christian Okoye was born in Nigeria, didn't touch a football until the age of 23, and led the NFL in rushing five years later. Originally a track-and-field star at Azusa Pacific, Okoye was denied Olympic eligibility and instead channeled his incredible natural gifts onto the gridiron. He arrived in K.C. as a 26-year-old second-round pick in 1987 and immediately became a physics problem for the rest of the NFL as a man who weighed 260 pounds and ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash.
Okoye would become the first Chief to ever win a rushing title (1,480 yards in 1989), and he would retire after six seasons with 4,897 yards and 40 scores in 1992. After two Pro Bowls, one first-team All-Pro nod, and a half-decade of excellence, Okoye walked away from a sport that was never his first love. That said, he remains involved with the team's Ambassadors program, and his highlight reel was electric for a generation of fans.
Cheap Corners, Inc.: Charvarius Ward & Jaylen Watson
In 2018, general manager Brett Veach flipped oft-injured o-lineman Parker Ehinger to the Dallas Cowboys in a minor preseason deal. The return was undrafted corner Charvarius Ward, who'd caught on in Dallas after a nice career at Middle Tennessee State. For the next four seasons, Ward grew into a full-time starter on a Super Bowl-winning defense before cashing in with the San Francisco 49ers in 2022.
One month after losing Ward in free agency, Veach spent a seventh-round choice at No. 243 overall for Jaylen Watson. He was one of three final-round choices for the Chiefs in an all-time draft class that reinvented the entire defense for a dynastic run of titles in 2022-23. Watson became an early starter on the boundary and made an instant impact with a go-ahead pick-six against Justin Herbert and the Chargers in Week 2 of his rookie year.
Both players would only last through their rookie deals in K.C. before following the money out of town. Ward is now in Indianapolis while Watson just signed with the Rams. But both players provided incredible returns on the initial investments made and proved that Veach has a real eye for developmental talent at the position.
The Tryout: Smokey Stover
Smokey Stover was a hard-hitting linebacker from Louisiana who caught on at a tryout when the Dallas Texans were first formed in 1960. Stover himself has said he taped 10-pound weights under his arms at weigh-ins to look heavy enough to survive roster cuts. Apparently it worked because Stover was a starting outside linebacker for Dallas in those first three seasons before relocating to Kansas City. With 15 sacks and 7 interceptions in the franchise's first seven years, Stover clearly made the most of a tryout that changed his life forever.
Et Cetera
- Quintin Demps, S - Veteran safety who earned plenty of PT in his lone season in KC (2013), helping a two-win team turn things around.
- Charcandrick West, RB - Former undrafted gem who unexpectedly surfaced as Jamaal Charles' replacement in 2015 after Charles was injured. Led the Chiefs in rushing yards with 634.
- William White, S - Joined the Chiefs for three seasons in the mid-'90s after six years in Detroit.
- Larry Atkins, S - A third-round pick out of UCLA who spent four seasons and 46 games in KC in 1999-2002.
- Horace Belton, RB - Came to the Chiefs in '78. As Louisiana's all-time leading high-school rusher with 3,222 yards, enjoyed a nice career at Southeastern before giving K.C. rotational reps for three seasons.
- Jim Otis, RB - Former Buckeye legend (first RB to 1K yards in OSU history) who sat behind Wendell Hayes in KC for two seasons (1971-72) before turning into a Pro Bowl back for the St. Louis Cardinals across the state.
- EJ Smith, RB - Emmitt Smith's son is hoping to make his mark in the Chiefs backfield as a UDFA signing on the '26 roster.
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