Tag: Derrick Johnson

Chiefs RB Pacheco still has chip on shoulder after seventh round draft selection

Speaking to @EdEastonJr in partnership with @USAA, #Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco says he’ll always have a chip on his shoulder as a seventh-round draft pick.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco made an immediate impact in his first NFL season, becoming the team’s starter. The Rutgers Scarlet Knight brought tough running and productive late-game moments to contribute to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII victory.

Pacheco recently teamed up with USAA to appear in its NFL Draft Salute to Service special event for an exclusive chalk talk with military members, veterans, and their families. Chiefs legend and all-time leading tackler Derrick Johnson joined Pacheco as they spoke with local military from Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leavenworth at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.

Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with Pacheco to talk about his work with the USAA and how last year’s NFL draft has influenced him as a pro player.

“I’m glad me and Derrick Johnson are teaming up today to speak to the veterans that served his country,” said Pacheco. “I want to thank them for their service. Because without doing what they did, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do today.”

The conversation included stories about their unique draft day memories and connecting with the military members. Johnson’s experience growing up as the son of a Vietnam War veteran was also discussed, while Pacheco shared exclusively with Chiefs Wire some information about his draft day a year ago.

“It was a big day for me one year ago, at the same moment because all my family and friends, my grandparents and my teachers, were all waiting on that one moment to hear my name get called,” Pacheco said. “What made it even better it was towards the end. It sounds bad, but it sounds pretty. Pretty cool at the end (at pick No. 251) and then you know the story.”

Pacheco was selected in the seventh round but immediately became an impact player for the Chiefs. He turned heads around the league and used his late draft selection as fuel from that day on.

“Yes, sir. I use that as fuel. Going in the seventh round, (I’ll) always have a chip on my shoulder. Why? So late or why? You know, the position I was in, but I didn’t question it,” said Pacheco. “You know, I just kept my head down, and I blocked out the negative energy and stuck to the script and stayed on task, and that was finding the edge to compete against the older guys and picking their brain, so they could teach me the business side of the program.”

The Chiefs found a diamond in the rough in Pacheco, who continues to improve with every game. A year ago, the team found a way to get better with a player that is constantly focused on improvement.

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3 former Chiefs players selected for College Football Hall of Fame’s 2023 class

Former #Chiefs S Eric Berry, LB Derrick Johnson and WR Jeremy Maclin have been selected for the College Football Hall of Fame class of 2023.

The Kansas City Chiefs will be well-represented when the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class is officially inducted during the 65th National Football Foundation (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner next December.

The NFF officially announced the 18 players and four coaches set to be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023. The group includes a trio of former Chiefs players, who all played with the team during the beginning of Andy Reid’s tenure as head coach.

“We are extremely proud to announce the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Class,” NFF Chairman Archie Manning said, via press release. “Each of these men has established himself among the absolute best to have ever played or coached the game, and we look forward to immortalizing their incredible accomplishments.”

During their collegiate careers, this trio of former Chiefs players earned three unanimous First-Team All-American selections, two consensus First-Team All-American honors, three multi-year All-American selections, and two conference player of the year selections. All three players still hold records at their colleges to this day. Each player was made a first-round draft pick in the NFL, but only two were selected in the draft by Kansas City.

Without further ado, here are the latest Chiefs players heading into the College Football Hall of Fame:

Chiefs legend Derrick Johnson congratulates Nick Bolton for breaking his record

Former #Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson took to Twitter to congratulate Nick Bolton for breaking his single-season tackle record.

Kansas City Chiefs LB Nick Bolton may have been snubbed from the Pro Bowl, but he certainly left his mark in the franchise record books this season.

With 16 total tackles against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18, Bolton accumulated 180 total tackles during the 2022 NFL season. He climbed to the top of the franchise leaderboard for most tackles in a single season, besting legendary Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson’s previous franchise record of 179 tackles set during the 2011 NFL season.

Almost immediately following the conclusion of the game, Johnson sent out a tweet congratulating Bolton.

“Congrats (Nick Bolton) on breaking my single season record,” Johnson wrote. “I’ve been watching you all season long bro, not surprised at all. Love the way you stay alive to be apart of almost every play.”

 

The Week 18 win over the Raiders also marked Bolton’s 10th game this season with 10 or more tackles, another franchise best for a single season. His 13 career games with 10 or more total tackles are the third-most by a Chiefs linebacker in franchise history.

Bolton finished the 2022 NFL season with four tackles fewer than Jaguars LB Foye Oluokun, who finished the season with a league-leading 184 total tackles. Even with games left to be played, the closest player would need 20 total tackles to catch up to Bolton at second place this season.

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Former Chiefs Derrick Johnson, Alex Smith on College Football Hall of Fame ballot for first time

Former #Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson and QB Alex Smith are on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame for the first time.

The National Football Foundation (NFF) and the College Football Hall of Fame have announced players on the ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023.

There are several former Chiefs players up for selection including Pro Football Hall of Fame TE Tony Gonzalez, DB Eric Berry, WR Jeremy Maclin and GM John Dorsey (former LB with UConn) who were all up for selection in 2022 as well. There are, however, a pair of newly-added former Chiefs players on the ballot this year.

Here are a few criteria that these newcomers had to meet in order to receive consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023:

  1. You must have been named a First-Team All-American during your playing days.
  2. A minimum of 10 years must have passed since your final season of college football. No more than 50 years can have passed since your last college football game.
  3. Post-football records and academic record matters.
  4. Coaches can become nominated three years after retirement, but active coaches can be nominated if they reach 75 years of age.

One of the first-time players up for selection into the College Football Hall of Fame is former Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson, who was a standout at the University of Texas. Johnson joined Kansas City as a first-round pick out of the 2005 NFL draft and retired as the franchise leader in tackles with 1,151 over the course of 13 seasons in Kansas City.

“Two-time First Team All-American (consensus-2003, unanimous-2004) and recipient of the 2004 Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy…2004 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and three-time First Team All-Big 12 performer…Led Horns to three 11-win seasons and ranks third all-time at UT with 458 career tackles.”

Next up is former Chiefs QB Alex Smith, who was a standout at Utah. Smith joined Kansas City via trade ahead of the 2013 NFL season and helped usher in a new era of football with the Chiefs under head coach Andy Reid, boasting a 50-26 record during five years with the team. He’s also credited with having helped Patrick Mahomes develop as a rookie in 2017.

2004 First Team All-American who finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting…2004 SI National Player of the Year, leading Utah to its first-ever 12-0 season, a BCS bowl victory (2005 Fiesta) and a No. 4 final national ranking…2004 MWC Offensive Player of the Year boasted two league titles and multiple school records.

Now that the ballot has been released, votes will be submitted to the NFF’s Honors Courts. They’ll deliberate and decide on the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame class, with an announcement slated for early 2023.

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Chiefs players congratulate OLB Tamba Hali on his retirement

Current and former Chiefs players shared their reactions to the news that OLB Tamba Hali would officially retire.

After a few years away from the game, former Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Tamba Hali officially called it a career on Monday. Hali spent 12 seasons in Kansas City after being selected in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft. He maintained a stretch of dominance from 2010-2015, which helped him to become one of the most prolific pass rushers in Chiefs history, second to only the legendary Derrick Thomas in career sacks and forced fumbles. Several of Hali’s teammates, both currently and formerly of the Chiefs, took to Twitter and Instagram to react and congratulate him on a tremendous career.

Check it out:

Former Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson set to serve as drum leader vs. Browns

The Kansas City Chiefs have chosen their drum leader for the AFC divisional round.

The Kansas City Chiefs have chosen a drum leader for the AFC divisional-round game against the Cleveland Browns.

Beloved former Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson is set to return to Arrowhead Stadium to bang the drum ahead of the Chiefs’ divisional playoff game against the Browns. Johnson spent 13 seasons in Kansas City after being selected with pick No. 15 in the 2005 NFL draft. He’s still the Chiefs’ all-time tackle leader with 1,154 total tackles during his career in Kansas City. He was twice named to the NFL’s All-Pro teams and selected to four Pro Bowls throughout his career.

Johnson was part of the Chiefs’ first playoff victory of the Andy Reid era during the wild-card round of the 2015 playoffs. He recorded six total tackles in the 30-0 victory over the Houston Texans. He last played with the Chiefs in the wild-card round of the playoffs against the Tennessee Titans in the 2017-18 season— a game remembered for a controversial forward progress call on a sack-fumble of Titans QB Marcus Mariota by Johnson.

Last year, Johnson’s longtime teammate, Tamba Hali was the drum leader against the Texans in the divisional round. This appears to be carrying on a tradition of having former players as the drum leader in the divisional round of the playoffs. He’ll be tasked with getting the crowd of 17,000 or so fans pumped up ahead of kickoff, banging the drum on the GEHA Drum Deck.

The Chiefs have a few other events planned ahead of kickoff on Sunday as well. Weather permitting, the Chiefs will have a B-2 Stealth bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base to do a flyover at Arrowhead Stadium.

Retired Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, Generald Wilson, has pre-recorded a rendition of the National Anthem from the National WWI Museum and Memorial. He also sang the National Anthem at the Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game against the Titans last year.

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Fab Four: Selecting Texas football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

On the eve of early signing day, Longhorns Wire recalls the most hyped commits in school history.

The Texas Longhorns and head coach Tom Herman are preparing for the early period signing day on Dec. 16. This comes just four days after their 2020 college football season finale. The Longhorns have finished with three top-10 classes in as many seasons according to 247Sports composite rankings. Continue reading “Fab Four: Selecting Texas football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits”

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Joseph Ossai named to Dick Butkus Award watch list

Texas linebacker Joseph Ossai has been garnering plenty of hype lately and now he finds himself on the watch list for the Dick Butkus award.

In the game of football Dick Butkus is royalty. Widely remembered as one of the best linebackers in the game. The top linebacker in college football will be presented with the Dick Butkus Award at seasons end. As a member of the Illinois Fighting Illini, Butkus earned two consensus All-American honors and finished sixth in Heisman voting during 1963 and finished third in 1964. Illinois stats show that Butkus finished his career with 374 career tackles. He is a member of both the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fames.

The Big 12 Conference found eight linebackers named to the Dick Butkus Award watch list.

  • Terrel Benard (Baylor)
  • Mike Rose (Iowa State)
  • DaShaun White (Oklahoma)
  • Amen Ogbongbemiga (Oklahoma State)
  • Malcolm Rodriguez (Oklahoma State)
  • Garret Wallo (Texas Christian)
  • Riko Jeffers (Texas Tech)

The eighth linebacker from the Big 12 Conference wears burnt orange on Saturdays.

It has been 16 years since a Longhorn has won this award. Derrick Johnson took home the honors in 2004. In fact he is the only Longhorn to ever take home the hardware since the trophy was first presented in 1985. It is time for another Texas player to walk away with it.

Joseph Ossai is becoming no stranger to the amount of watch lists he has found his name on. In his two season, Ossai has tallied 110 total tackles with 90 coming in 2019. He also recorded 13.5 tackles for loss and five sacks a season ago. A breakout year could be on the horizon in a new position. It could bring him more hardware but also increase his draft stock.

The semifinalists will be named on November 2nd and finalists on November 23rd. The winner will be announced by December 8th.

Bleacher Report lists Texas among schools who are ‘Defense U’

Bleacher Report is wrapping up a series in positional “U”, in which they crowned the top defensive school. The Longhorns were among them.

It seems to be an ongoing debate. Who is “DBU” or defensive back university. The usual suspects are Florida, Alabama, Ohio State, Louisiana State or Texas. Bleacher Report posed the question of who can claim “Defense U”. Texas was among the teams who made the cut just outside of the top three.

The top three schools should come as no shock with Florida State, Southern California and Miami (FL). The basis of the argument dates back from 1970 to current. For the Longhorns, they were the last team listed in the honorable mentions.

Casey Hampton, Doug English and Steve McMichael on the defensive line. Derrick Johnson and Brian Orakpo at linebacker. Earl Thomas, Jerry Gray and Raymond Clayborn in the secondary. There are no “best of all time” candidates in the bunch, but that’s a nice collection of alumni at all three levels of the defense, featuring a dozen multiple-time Pro Bowlers. That combination of factors made Texas the toughest school to cut out of our top three.

Prior to 1970, there was a man named Tommy Nobis who was viewed as one of the all-time greats in college football. However, bases on the criteria he was just outside of their scope as he finished his collegiate career in 1965. Had B/R expanded their list to a top five, the Longhorns are likely listed at number four of the greatest defensive talent schools in the last 50 years.

Other notable names that played defense at Texas were defensive end Bill Atessis (1968-70), defensive back Johnnie Johnson (1976-79), and defensive end Kiki DeAyla (1979-82). DeAyla still holds the school record for most sacks in a season (22.5 sacks) and for a career (40.5).

Longhorns well-represented on 2021 Texas Sports Hall of Fame Ballot

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame listed their ballot for the 2021 class. The Longhorns have nine former athletes up for induction.

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recently released their 2021 ballots and it has plenty of former Texas Longhorns on it. There are two ballots with one being the primary and the other being the veteran ballot. In total there are nine Longhorns and seven are on the primary ballot. The sports range from football, basketball, softball and track and field.

Primary Ballot

Phil Dawson, Kicker

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The first former Longhorn on the ballot is former kicker Phil Dawson. Dawson played for Texas from 1994-97. He would appear in 46 games in that span. Twice he led the conference in extra point attempts, extra points made and field goal percentage. He would finish his Longhorns career with 339 points scored, his career high of 108 was set in 1996.

He would go on to enjoy a NFL career that lasted until 2018. Most of his career was spent in Cleveland for 14 seasons. He would join the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons and the final two in Arizona with the Cardinals. He played in 305 games total. In that time he converted 83.8 percent of his field goal attempts and 97.6 percent of his extra point attempts.

He would finish his career with 1,847 points over his 20-year NFL career. He was selected to his only Pro Bowl in 2012, which would also be his last year in Cleveland. Dawson ranks second in Browns history for most points scored. He only trails legendary kicker Lou Groza.

Accomplishments:

  • All-American kicker and four-year starter who left UT with 13 Longhorn records, including all-time marks for scoring (339), field goals (59) and field goal accuracy (74.7 percent)
  • Finished his career ranked 16th on the NCAA all-time scoring list, 12th on the NCAA all-time kick-scoring chart and 31st on the NCAA all-time field goals made list
  • Set a UT record by hitting 15 straight field goals in 1996-97; set a UT record by making six straight field goals from 50 or more yards from 1995-97
  • Connected on 64.3 percent of his field goals from 40 yards and further (27 of 42) during his college career
  • Signed as free agent with Cleveland in 1999
  • Hall of Honor inductee in 2012
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