How the stars aligned when it came to this pairing of Chiefs defensive line teammates
If any member of the Kansas City Chiefs understands the practice of paying it forward, it’s defensive end George Karlaftis.
After his rookie season, Karlaftis started working out with retired Chiefs great Tamba Hali, who accumulated 89.5 sacks over his 12-year career.
The pair have remained connected, with Karlaftis, set to begin his fourth NFL season, practicing martial arts with Hali. A video making the rounds on social media showed Karlaftis sparring with the five-time Pro Bowl selection who entered the Chiefs Hall of Fame last season.
Now, Karlaftis is serving as something of mentor to one of the newest Chiefs, Ashton Gillotte.
Check that. Karlaftis and Gillotte were working together before knowing they’d become teammates.
“It’s just a crazy coincidence because I’ve known Ash for a few years now,” Karlaftis said.
The common ground is the coaching staff at Louisville, where Gillotte became an all-ACC end. After his sophomore season, a regime change brought Jeff Brohm and staff members from Purdue, where they coached Karlaftis. Defensive line coach Mark Hagen introduced the two, and Karlaftis and Gillotte became workout partners.
“(Coaches) were just raving about him,” Karlaftis said. “I spent a lot of the offseason there training with those guys. I showed him some stuff, helped his out as much as I could. It’s kind of been a great relationship.”
One that had a slim chance of continuing as teammates on the pro level, a 1 in 32 chance — the number of NFL teams — to be precise. Karlaftis said he helped prep Gillotte for the NFL Combine and draft process.
“But you’d never think ... it will happen like that,” Karlaftis said. “The stars aligned.”
After their third straight Super Bowl appearance and coming off a year in which their sack production hit a three-year low, the Chiefs were the market for defensive line reinforcements. They selected tackle Omarr Norman-Lott from Tennessee in the second round before taking Gillotte in the third.
Karlaftis supplied the scouting report for Gillotte, who finished his four-year college career with 40 tackles for loss, 26.5 sacks, and a nation’s best 10 quarterback hurries.
“Tenacity, effort,” Karlaftis said. “Effort will never betray you. ... I think he’ll be a great player in this league.”
In Karlaftis, Gillotte has a model who has been an NFL starter from his first game. In three seasons, Karlaftis has posted 24.5 sacks, with eight more in 10 career postseason games. He’d like to add to those totals as member of the Chiefs, who have picked up their fifth-year option on Karlaftis. And he’d be interested in a longer term deal.
“I’d like to be here as long as I can,” Karlaftis said. “My now fiance and I absolutely love Kansas City, love the organization. I’ll let whoever’s supposed to handle that handle that. But I love it here.”