Why Charles Omenihu says his return to Kansas City Chiefs required an ego check
Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu knows adversity is part of football — and also part of life.
He’s just hoping he can face less of it next season.
“I’ve been at the door of where I want to be,” Omenihu said Wednesday during an interview with reporters, “and then something happens.”
Omenihu, who re-signed with the Chiefs on a one-year deal last month, is back with the team on a discount thanks to the latest obstacle he’s had to overcome.
The 27-year-old defensive end was putting together a career year during his first season with the Chiefs in 2023 when he tore his ACL in the AFC Championship Game. That led to months of rehab to get back onto the field last year — and also to a player who wasn’t at his full potential when he did return for the final six regular-season games and playoffs.
“It was kind of crazy that I was playing, to be honest,” Omenihu said. “But I wanted to do anything to be on the field with the guys and to help the team, so I pushed and pushed to do that.”
The sixth-year pro’s overall production suffered, however. Omenihiu had one sack and six tackles in his six regular-season games before adding another sack in the playoffs.
That diminished output led to an interesting offseason.
Omenihu admits he’s not a patient person, and a few social-media posts seemed to indicate frustration that the Chiefs didn’t re-sign him before free agency began. After a few weeks of testing the market, Omenihu eventually landed back with KC on a one-year deal for a guaranteed $3.45 million, via Over The Cap.
Looking back, Omenihu said the time he missed — and teams wondering about his current health — led to hesitation in signing him.
“Then there’s a time when you come to a point in the decision-making that you do what makes football sense at the time,” Omenihu said. “You throw your ego out of it, and you think long-term. You think clear.”
Though the Chiefs hadn’t signed him right away, Omenihu knew the team and coaches well. He’d experienced his best personal year with the team two years ago, and also says he understands the system “like the back of my hand.”
“I wanted to come back. That was a big factor. I love being here,” Omenihu said of re-signing. “I love the organization. I’ve had a lot of success here, so it wasn’t too much of a hard decision when the opportunity presented itself to do that.”
Now, Omenihu’s goal is to reward the Chiefs’ faith in him.
Wednesday’s interview, in fact, took place just after Omenihu had been working out. He says he has three people monitoring him during those exercises, ensuring he’s getting to the level he needs to be.
“I’ve got to climb myself back up to where I felt like I was reaching the peak of my game,” Omenihu said, “reaching exactly who I knew I was as a player.”
These months of preparation are different from last year. Instead of constant work to strengthen his knee and those muscles around it, Omenihu can now focus on general progress in his game.
“Seeing where I am now, I definitely can tell like, ‘OK, the improvement is going to be very noticeable at the beginning,’” Omenihu said. “Like training camp, you’ll know ... I’ll personally be able to tell, and probably other people will personally be able to tell, ‘OK, yeah, this is different.’’
The ultimate goal for Omenihu? He says it’s to “get back to the guy that I would impress myself in some of the stuff I would do: the explosiveness, the power, the strength.”
And if that comes to fruition, he believes it’ll result in him putting up numbers like he did in 2023; that year, he had seven sacks in 11 games.
“I don’t like really moping in the past, but I was on a very, very good pace — a very fast, rapid pace,” Omenihu said.
Starting the season on the field could help him as well. Omenihu hasn’t played in Game 1 the last two years with KC, as he was serving a six-game suspension in 2023 and was injured in 2024.
If things go as planned, Omenihu will maintain his health and be able to play in each contest for the Chiefs this season.
While also avoiding all the misfortunes and distractions of the past.
“It’s just like you climb the hill, climb the hill, and then a rock hits you in the face,” Omenihu said. “Now, hopefully I can climb this hill, and I don’t have too much debris hitting me.”
