Why these playoffs are perfect time for Chiefs to honor this late Kansas City great | Opinion
About a month has gone by since former Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Jimmy Wilkerson reportedly died of an apparent heart attack. He was only 43.
The Chiefs selected Wilkerson in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played five of his nine seasons in the NFL here. Other stops included Seattle, Tampa and New Orleans, the site of this year’s Super Bowl. Wilkerson’s death undoubtedly reverberated from the Deep South to Seattle and back to Midwest City, Oklahoma, where coached high school football. But it is here in Kansas City where Wilkerson spent the majority of his nine-year pro career.
Wouldn’t it be a nice gesture if the organization offered a moment of silence in his honor before Saturday’s AFC Divisional Round playoff game against Houston at Arrowhead Stadium?
I’m sure the young football players at Midwest City’s Carl Albert High School would appreciate such a move. I am almost certain Wilkerson’s grieving family would, too. He is survived by wife Jaime Wilkerson and their four children, Tyson, Maddox, Jax and Emilia.
But the impact Wilkerson had on the football players at Carl Albert High near Oklahoma City cannot be ignored. As an assistant, Wilkerson coached defensive lineman at the school. One day after his death, Carl Albert won its third consecutive Class 5A state title. In fact, Wilkerson’s son, Maddox, a senior on the team, played in the state championship game against Guthrie High School.
Talk about resilient.
Wilkerson would not have wanted it any other way, close friend Tom George told me this week.
“If you know the person Jimmy is, he would want the kids to move forward,” George said. “He wouldn’t want people to sit around and feel sorry for him.”
George is a retired U.S. Marine. He is founder and CEO of QB Impact Academy, a football training facility in Oklahoma City, where Wilkerson lived. The two met about four years ago as assistant coaches at small-private Oklahoma Christian Academy in Edmond, George said. They quickly bonded over football and “God, family and the love for our country,” he said.
“He was a brother and a best friend,” George said.
Wilkerson was the director of QB Impact’s Lineman University training division. George said his decision to continue working with Wilkerson after they left Oklahoma Christian Academy was a “no brainer,” he said.
George, 51, described his friend as a dedicated husband and father and a gentle man with a humble spirit. Wilkerson’s death more than hit home, George said. The morning he learned Wilkerson had died, George said he was at a local hospital holding his newborn grandson.
“It wasn’t his time,” George said of Wilkerson.
About a year ago, Wilkerson appeared on a podcast called the Dain and Josh Sports and Music Show. In the episode, Wilkerson said he decided to get into coaching and training as a way to give back to the community.
“When I see the youth that are coming up behind us that are needing just a little bit of knowledge and information to help them get over that hump — I’m one of those guys that’s willing and able to put myself out there whether I’m getting paid or not,” Wilkerson said. “I want to put myself out there and give them that knowledge so they can go out there and be the best version of themselves.”
By most accounts I’ve read over the past month, Wilkerson did just what he set out to do after he retired: make a difference.
The most fitting way to remember his contributions to the game of football here and to life itself is for the Chiefs to honor him before Saturday’s game.
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 11:47 AM.
