Our Chiefs All-Quarter Century Team: Did your favorite players make the cut?

The Andy Reid era has produced remarkable success for the Chiefs in the first quarter of the 21st century.

Since Reid was hired ahead of the 2013 season, the Chiefs have posted more victories, including playoffs, than any NFL team. And their three Super Bowl championships in the last six years gives them dynasty status.

Patrick Mahomes’ teams have been supercharged since he became the Chiefs’ starting quarterback in 2018. The franchise has made seven straight appearances in the AFC Championship Game.

But in selecting a Chiefs all-2000s squad, members of The Star’s sports staff who regularly cover the team — columnists Sam McDowell and Vahe Gregorian and beat writers Jesse Newell and Blair Kerkhoff — came up with more players who were not part of this current Super Bowl era.

Despite some rough years under different regimes, the Chiefs have always been able to identify and develop good players. But until Reid came along, they couldn’t put enough talent on the field at the same time. Even with Reid in the fold, it took the right quarterback to push the Chiefs over the top.

How difficult was it to make our All-Quarter Century team? Four Chiefs elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame played at least four seasons for Kansas City in the 2000s. Only two of those players were selected here.

For context, we made our selections while taking into account both peak seasons and longevity. And we only considered a player’s tenure with the Chiefs from 2000 onward.

So who did we come up with? Here’s our full list:

OFFENSE

Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes (2017-present)

Next up: Trent Green

We start with the easiest selection of all. Mahomes towers over the rest amid one of the greatest quarterback careers in NFL history. So far, through seven years as a starter, he’s collected three Super Bowl titles, two MVP awards and seven trips to the AFC Championship Game.

Green gets the nod as runner-up over Alex Smith, thanks to an impressive five-year run under coach Dick Vermeil, when KC led the NFL in scoring offense twice. — Jesse Newell

Running back: Jamaal Charles (2008-16)

Next up: Priest Holmes

With a 5.4-yards-per-carry average during his career, including 5.5 YPC with the Chiefs, Charles still holds the NFL record for rushing average among running backs.

As rugged as he was fleet, Charles also is the franchise’s career rushing leader with 7,260 yards (Holmes is second with 6,070) despite playing his first five seasons for flimsy teams that went a combined 25-55.

Imagine if he’d spent his whole career playing for Reid, for whom at Oakland in 2013 Charles scored a franchise record-tying five touchdowns — including three on screen passes.

“I don’t know how anybody can be more valuable to a team and the success that we’ve had than he has,” Reid said that day. He was the kind of player you could build a team around, including this one honoring the organization’s best players of the past 25 years. — Vahe Gregorian

Wide receivers: Tyreek Hill (2016-21), Dwayne Bowe (2007-14), Eddie Kennison (2001-07)

Next up: Derrick Alexander

Former Chiefs QB Alex Smith recently joked that wide receivers were the prima donnas of the locker room — with some colorful language to drive the point home.

We’re not saying that’s always applicable, but Smith did throw footballs to both Tyreek Hill and Dwayne Bowe, a couple of wideouts with some flare.

They also just flat-out dominated. Hill and Bowe share the franchise record for 15 receiving touchdowns in a single season. In his prime, Hill was one of the most feared weapons in football. Bowe fell just 151 yards shy of Otis Taylor’s franchise record for most yards to by a receiver (7,306).

And don’t forget about Eddie Kennison, a former first-round pick who made the Chiefs his fifth NFL stop. He found his groove into his 30s and led KC’s receivers in yards for five straight seasons, including 1,000-yard campaigns in 2004-05. — Sam McDowell

Tight end: Travis Kelce (2013-present)

Next up: Tony Gonzalez

Gonzalez had to think he had this spot locked up in 2013, right? How could any future Chiefs tight end possibly top what the Hall of Famer did during his KC tenure, when he made 10 Pro Bowls and had nearly 11,000 receiving yards?

Somehow, Kelce has done it. Comparing the 2000-to-now numbers, Kelce not only has better statistical production in terms of yards, but he’s also been a staple of the Chiefs’ postseason success, which has included three Super Bowl titles and five appearances overall. — Newell

Left tackle: Willie Roaf (2002-05)

Next up: Eric Fisher

The Chiefs got Roaf at the end of his career, the final four of his 13 NFL seasons, but he seemed to be re-energized playing in Vermiel’s offense ... and alongside such players as Brian Waters and fellow future Hall of Famer Will Shields.

Kansas City led the NFL in points or yards in each of Roaf’s four seasons, with Roaf making the Pro Bowl each year and earning two All-Pro first-team nods. — Kerkhoff

Left guard: Brian Waters (2000-10)

Next up: Joe Thuney

Only one player has started more games for the Chiefs’ offense this century than Brian Waters: Travis Kelce. That’s some pretty good company.

Like Kelce, Waters made his presence felt — albeit in much different fashion. He was an anchor on the best offensive line in the NFL, one that paved the way for Priest Holmes’ records. Waters reached five Pro Bowls with the Chiefs and twice was a first-team All-Pro.

In 2009, he was named the Water Payton NFL Man of the Year, the franchise’s fifth such winner — most in league history. — McDowell

Center: Creed Humphrey (2021-present)

Next up: Casey Wiegmann

Last August, the Chiefs made Humphrey the highest-paid center in the NFL, with a four-year contract extension worth $72 million ($50 million guaranteed).

Smart move: Befitting the contract, Humphrey was first-team All-Pro last season and Pro Football Focus recently rated him the best center in the league. For that matter, PFF added that since he took the field as a rookie in 2021, Humphrey has been not only the most productive at his position, “but also the most productive offensive lineman in the NFL, period.”

That’s in part because he’s also been an iron man: Through four seasons, he’s started all 81 games the Chiefs have played, including 13 in the postseason. — Gregorian

Right guard: Will Shields (1993-06)

Next up: Trey Smith

A third-round pick from Nebraska, Shields didn’t start in his first NFL game. But an injury to Dave Szott opened the door for Shields and he started the next 223 games, the sixth-longest streak in NFL history.

The 12-time Pro Bowler protected quarterbacks from from Joe Montana to Trent Green and paved the paths for running backs like Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson during a career that was rewarded with a Pro Football Hall of Fame jacket in 2011 and spot on the NFL’s All-2000s decade team. — Kerkhoff

Right tackle: Mitchell Schwartz (2016-20)

Next up: John Tait

During his four full years with the Chiefs — before a back injury snuffed out his 2020 season — Schwartz was a first-team All-Pro once and second-team All-Pro three times. Bookending the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV-winning line with Eric Fisher, Schwartz distinguished himself by allowing just one pressure in 134 pass-blocking snaps that postseason, per Pro Football Focus.

He also embodied the prized NFL notion that the “best ability is availability,” playing 7,894 consecutive snaps (the longest among active players at the time) in his first eight seasons before a knee injury forced him from a game in November 2019. — Gregorian

Kicker: Harrison Butker (2017-present)

Next up: Ryan Succop

With 992 points, Butker has amassed the third-most points in Chiefs history. Perhaps more to the point of his clutch and booming legacy, though, he’s the franchise’s leading postseason scorer, with 175 points — tied for third-most in NFL history.

Among Butker’s four field goals in the Chiefs’ 25-22 victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII were a 57-yarder, the longest in Super Bowl history, and a 29-yarder with 3 seconds left to send the game to overtime. And his 27-yard kick with 8 seconds left was the winning margin in the franchise’s 38-35 victory over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. — Gregorian

DEFENSE

Edge rushers: Justin Houston (2011-18), Tamba Hali (2006-17)

Next up: Jared Allen

The Chiefs have had some talent at edge rusher, even absent the top picks to secure it.

Jared Allen is one of the most productive players left off our list — his 15 1/2 sacks led the NFL in 2007 — but Justin Houston and Tamba Hali had both production and longevity. Houston spent eight years in Kansas City and set the franchise record with 22 sacks in 2014. Hali made five straight Pro Bowls and is second in franchise history with 89 1/2 sacks.

When Hali got to the quarterback, he made the most of it by forcing 33 fumbles, second most in Chiefs history. — McDowell

Defensive tackles: Chris Jones (2016-present), Dontari Poe (2012-16)

Next up: John Browning

Drafted in the second round in 2016, Jones joins Mahomes and Kelce as foundational pieces of this Chiefs dynasty and future Hall of Famers.

His 80 1/2 career sacks total ranks fourth in franchise history, and in 2024 — even with the fewest sacks (five) since his rookie season — Jones was selected first-team All-Pro for the third straight year. He has said he learned plenty from Poe when they lined up next to each other in 2016.

The 345-pound Poe was a run-stuffer who also got the quarterback 13 times in his five Chiefs seasons. And who can forget Poe’s offensive snaps that resulted in two rushing touchdowns, including “Hungry Pig Right” and a touchdown pass? — Kerkhoff

Linebackers: Derrick Johnson (2005-17), Donnie Edwards (1996-2001, 2007-08)

Next up: Nick Bolton

Two of the game’s tackle machines played together at end of Edwards’ career and the beginning of Johnson’s.

In 117 games for the Chiefs, Edwards averaged a robust 7.5 tackles per game. Edwards was reunited with former Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer in San Diego and got a rousing ovation when the Chargers returned to Arrowhead.

Johnson’s 1,262 tackles over 13 Chiefs season is a club record. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, “DJ” played for five different coaches and found success at the end of his Chiefs tenure when he played his final four seasons in KC with Reid.

According to profootball-reference.com, Edwards and Johnson rank No. 4 and No. 18 all-time in career solo tackles. — Kerkhoff

Cornerbacks: Brandon Flowers (2008-13), Trent McDuffie (2022-present), Marcus Peters (2015-17)

Next up: L’Jarius Sneed

Flowers earns his nod thanks to a strong six-year run when he had 90 passes defensed and secured a Pro Bowl selection. The other two picks here are based off short — but super-productive — starts to their Chiefs careers.

McDuffie has been one of the league’s top defensive players the last two seasons, while also helping KC to three straight Super Bowl appearances. Peters, too, demonstrated immense on-field talent during his three-year tenure with the Chiefs, earning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and All-Pro distinction twice. — Newell

Safeties: Eric Berry (2010-18), Tyrann Mathieu (2019-21)

Next up: Greg Wesley

There was a time when Eric Berry was not only one of the best safeties in football, but one of the very best stories in football. A survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro selection.

He and Tyrann Mathieu shared some traits: Although they were defensive players, you wanted the ball in their hands — and man if they didn’t frequently find a way to get ahold of it. Berry’s homecoming game in Atlanta, when he scored a defensive touchdown and returned a two-point conversion for a score, remains one of the most memorable defensive performances in Chiefs history.

Berry brought swagger to a team that needed defense to win games. And in 2019, when general manager Brett Veach sought to overhaul his defense, Mathieu’s self-described “championship swagger” provided a perfect fit. — McDowell

Punter: Dustin Colquitt (2005-19)

Next up: Tommy Townsend

No one spent more years in a Chiefs uniform than Colquitt, whose 15-year service time with the franchise is matched only by long-ago punting predecessor Jerrel Wilson — who appeared in 21 fewer games than Colquitt’s 238.

Moreover, few experienced the entire spectrum of agony and thrills as Colquitt did while also providing a vital locker room presence. Yes, even as a punter. In 2019, Mahomes called him “a great mentor.”

So recently signing a one-day contract to retire as a Chief couldn’t have been more appropriate for Colquitt, who put 483 punts inside the 20 during his NFL career — second only to Jeff Feagles’ 554 … in 97 more games. — Gregorian

Kick returner/punt returner: Dante Hall (2000-06)

Next up: Tyreek Hill

Selected in the fifth round of the 2000 draft, the “Human Joystick” became one of the most electrifying players ever to wear a Chiefs uniform. He remains the franchise record-holder for career combined yards, with 12,356 (though Travis Kelce is closing in with 12,166).

Hall ranks sixth in NFL history for combined punt and kick return yards (12,397, including his two seasons in St. Louis) and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade team for the 2000s as a first-team punt returner and second-team kick returner.

Hall, who in 2003 returned kicks for a touchdown in four straight games, was also selected to the Chiefs’ Hall of Fame in 2023. — Gregorian

Blair Kerkhoff

The Kansas City Star

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Blair Kerkhoff has covered sports for The Kansas City Star since 1989. He was elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.