Ranking every Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback since 1990
By Matt Conner
9. Rich Gannon (1996-98)
Speaking of Gannon, for those who want to criticize the Chiefs for allowing him to get away to the Raiders, it’s important to remember the context. No one should have seen Gannon’s late-career development coming at all.
Gannon came to Kansas City as a 30-year-old veteran fresh off missing a full season with a shoulder injury. Before that, Gannon had an uninspired three-year run as a starter with the Vikings, and no team was ready to hand him a starting role of any kind. The fact that he could compete with Grbac was about the best scenario he was going to get.
Even in K.C., he backed up Steve Bono for two seasons before competing against Grbac for the starting role, and if he was such a lock, K.C. would have known it before anyone else in that span. Suffice it to say, his ascendance with the Raiders is a minor miracle and a wonderful story (for Raider Nation, at least). For the Chiefs, however, he was fine with a stretch of very good, and that lands him here on our countdown.