We're not entirely sure how self-aware Emmanuel Sanders is in other parts of his life, but when it comes to his on-field accomplishments and frustrations, Sanders needs some outside perspective. That's because when he's discussing the Chiefs-sized curse that robbed him of several meaningful experiences, he seems unaware of the reason for it all.
Emmanuel Sanders is responsible for his own undoing.
On a recent appearance on The Facility on Fox Sports 1, Sanders joined Emmanuel Acho and company for a talk about his NFL career when the subject of "13 seconds" came up. The two-word description for the postseason classic between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC's DIvisional Round in 2021 was mentioned and Sanders was off to the races.
In case you need a refresh, the game was a thrilling display of quarterback perfection between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Allen put the Bills up with less than two minutes to play on two separate touchdown drives (yep) but Mahomes answered each time with scoring drives of his own. That included tying the game when given only 13 seconds to march enough down the field to put Harrison Butker in field goal range. The Chiefs would go on to tie the game and win in overtime.
According to Sanders, he knew better than the celebrate before the clock hit zero. "I still remember after we scored my family was going crazy. I told them, ‘Calm down.’ Because I’ve been in the business with Pat [Mahomes]. You gotta play him four full quarters."
From there, he began to recount all of the ways in which the Chiefs and Mahomes have ruined his biggest NFL moments. "I retired after that game! You know how many times Patrick Mahomes has made me cry though? I was in the AFC West. I was with the Niners in the Super Bowl … and then I get to Buffalo, and it’s 13 seconds. He a bad boy."
Emmanuel Sanders said Patrick Mahomes forcing OT in the AFC Divisional round with 13 seconds left, was the reason he retired after that game. 13 seconds will forever haunt the Buffalo Bills 😅😂 pic.twitter.com/wtYG5bRdCV
— Brad Henson Productions (@BradHensonPro) December 7, 2024
Sanders and company had much more to say and it's a hilarious segment looking at the dominance of one player and team through the lens of a competitor trying to have his own moment. However, for Sanders, it should be more than that.
To hear Sanders tell it, he just happened to have run into the buzzsaw known as Mahomes as some unwitting victim. But Sanders brought this curse upon himself, and we're a bit shocked that he's even forgotten all of this.
Let's not forget that Sanders is the one spurned the Chiefs organization in the first place. Back in 2014, in Andy Reid's second season in K.C., the Chiefs were looking for wide receiver help to bolster the offense for Alex Smith next to Dwayne Bowe, Jamaal Charles, and Travis Kelce (in his first season after being injured for his entire rookie year). Sanders, meanwhile, was hitting free agency for the first time after wrapping up his contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
To hear Sanders tell it, he was at Arrowhead ready to sign a contract but they were off on years—the Chiefs wanting four and player wanting three. The Broncos were also reportedly interested but the Chiefs had him in the building. After getting a phone call from Denver, Sanders backs out of the agreement he had.
“I’m there in their facility and I remember telling them, ‘I just want to go back to my hotel and figure out the situation. I don’t know what I want to do. I might sign, but I don’t know,'” Sanders said. “I was just trying to get out of there so I could go celebrate because I’m about to go play with Peyton freaking Manning — The Sheriff.”
From there, confusion sets in on the Chiefs side as Sanders decides to leave without a deal. He lands in Denver and enjoys instant success, including a win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
Since then, however, the ghost of choices past, wearing a Chiefs jersey, has haunted him at his biggest moments. Beginning in 2015-16, the Chiefs started a run of dominance against Denver that verged on historic levels of one-sidedness. That Super Bowl win over the 49ers in 2019 began the Chiefs' current run of elite-level success. And that Buffalo game is still something they can't shake in Orchard Park, no matter how hard they try.
We're glad that Sanders respects the Chiefs and specifically Mahomes. That said, he should know he had it coming when he decided to spurn the Chiefs from within the hallowed halls of their own building.