Revisiting the day the Chiefs moved up in the draft thanks to two equipment managers
The sort of shenanigans the Chiefs were a part of at the 2002 NFL Draft won’t be taking place Thursday night.
This year’s NFL Draft will be a virtual event, with teams making their picks on a video conference call. But in 2002, the Chiefs moved up in the draft thanks in part to the blocking efforts of Allen Wright and Chris Shropshire, who were the team’s assistant equipment managers at the time.
The Chiefs were drafting eighth that year and hoped to take North Carolina defensive tackle Ryan Sims, who was also on the Vikings’ radar. Minnesota had the No. 7 pick, so the Chiefs were working on a trade with the Cowboys, who had the No. 6 pick.
A deal was struck but the 15-minute time period to make the pick expired before the Chiefs could inform commissioner Paul Tagliabue that they had acquired the Cowboys’ No. 6 pick. The Vikings rushed to make their pick and had Sims’ name on their card.
At that point, Wright and Shropshire sprang into action. They were in New York to turn in the Chiefs’ pick and knew they had to act fast.
As former Star columnist Jason Whitlock recounted in 2002, Wright filled out a draft card with Sims’ name on it, handed it to Shropshire and instructed him to stand in front of Tagliabue’s draft managers and turn in the card as soon as the Chiefs-Cowboys trade was official.
Wright and Shropshire did this on their own. They were communicating with the Chiefs’ war room, but neither Carl Peterson, who was general manager at the time, nor former coach Dick Vermeil asked the duo to block the Vikings.
But Shropshire didn’t allow the Vikings to get their card to Tagliabue before the Chiefs could once the trade was official.
“I’m pissed,” Vikings coach Mike Tice said at the time. “There is no other way I can put it.”
Thanks to the quick work of the equipment managers, the Chiefs moved up from eighth to sixth in the draft. The Vikings remained at No. 7 and drafted Miami offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie and the Cowboys landed Oklahoma safety Roy Williams at No. 8.
“It’s still Dallas’ pick. But then frankly, I looked at the TV also and they were down to zero-zero and (the trade) still hadn’t been confirmed,″ Peterson told the Associated Press at the time. “It said Minnesota was standing behind them. But they didn’t allow them to make their pick. ...
“Allen Wright did a great job in New York. He wouldn’t let the Vikings behind him get in front of him.”
Wright, who has been with the Chiefs since graduating from William Chrisman High School in 1983, is now the team’s head equipment manager. Shropshire is an assistant equipment manager.
In the end, the Vikings were happy to have missed out on Sims, who had just five sacks in five seasons with the Chiefs. He also played four seasons with the Buccaneers. McKinnie made a Pro Bowl appearance and started all 16 games at left tackle for seven of nine seasons for the Vikings.
“Thank god we didn’t get Sims because didn’t he turn out to be a bust?” Tice told the Pioneer-Press earlier this month.
Nevertheless, that day made for one of the stranger drafts for the Chiefs.
