Former quarterback Trent Green says talk of a burgeoning Chiefs dynasty is premature
“Run It Back” is the phrase Chiefs players have been using this season.
With a 25-year-old quarterback who has already won an NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP and stars all over the place on offense and defense, there has been talk around the league of a Chiefs dynasty in the works.
But former Chiefs quarterback Trent Green said that kind of talk is premature while peaking on former teammate Morten Andersen’s podcast, “Great Dane Nation presented by VegasInsider.com.”
The duo talked about their work as broadcasters (Andersen told a humorous story of calling NFL Europe games), the Chiefs’ epic 40-39 win at Cleveland in 2002, former coach Dick Vermeil and more.
They also turned their attention to this year’s Chiefs team, and all the talk of being top dogs in the NFL for years to come.
“People throw dynasty around very easily now,” Andersen said. “Everybody, all the journalists, will say, ‘Oh, the Chiefs are the new dynasty of the NFL.’ I’m a little more cautious about that, but I’m sure they’re saying it because of their young quarterback, that explosive quarterback in Patrick Mahomes.”
Green noted he has called Chiefs preseason games and some regular-season contests for CBS.
“I’ve had the opportunity to interview and be around Patrick Mahomes and the guys on the team just to see what they’re like, how they work, all those things,” Green said.
“I’m like you, Mort, in that I’m cautious with the dynasty tag or ‘Hey, I want to win five Super Bowls, six Super Bowls.’ It’s like you know what? It’s hard to win one and if you look, the Chiefs in all three of their playoff games (last season), they came from 24 down, 10 down and 10 down.
“You also go back to earlier in the season last year, when Mahomes got hurt, he missed two games, but he was hurt during that time with his knee injury. And then you look at some of the other injuries that Chris Jones or Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu (had) and you look at some of the things they had to deal with. They had a bad stretch, so they started off undefeated and then I think they went 2-3 or 2-4 during a stretch there. And then of course then they didn’t lose again after that point. But I said that’s why this league is so fragile, and it’s so difficult to repeat.“
Green praised New England’s remarkable run, winning six Super Bowls in nine appearances over a 20-year span. And he believes the Chiefs are loaded, especially after general manager Brett Veach’s busy offseason.
“So I agree with you, Kansas City, they’re going to be a really good team,” Green said. “Mahomes is signed for a long time, Tyreek Hill signed, Tyann Mathieu signed, Frank Clark is signed, Chris Jones they just redid (his contract), Travis Kelce they just redid. I mean, Sammy Watkins lowered his cap number so he could stay.”
Andersen said: “Why wouldn’t you?”
Green also mentioned the offensive line being solid, while Andersen talked about Harrison Butker. They also mentioned that how Veach and coach Andy Reid got new deals.
“The nucleus is in place for at least the next three or four years,” Green said, “and then that’s when all those cap dollars start stacking up. All those contracts you’ve got, the cap is going to catch up at some point and time. So, yeah, they’ve got an opportunity for the next three, four years at least if they can stay healthy to be a really good football team.”
A couple of other items of note from the podcast.
**Andersen was with the New York Giants when the played the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“I remember going to Arrowhead and it’s the first time in my 25 years of playing in the NFL that an away team got a standing ovation from 80,000 fans,” Andersen said. “That was very telling about the people of Kansas City and about that franchise, and what that team meant to them. But also just class, and we’re all in this together. That was a pretty powerful experience for me, man, in 2001.”
**While the 2003 Chiefs won the AFC West, Green also talked up the ‘02 team, which finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.
“I tell people all the time: that 2002 team may have been better than the ‘03 team,” Green said. “I think we finished 8-8 that year. The ‘03 team we finished 13-3, and we led the league in scoring in ‘02. I tell people, ‘Yeah, but you’re overlooking how really good that offense was.’ I know it came through in ‘03, the defense picked up and played better. And then of course, ‘03 with the type of year that Dante (Hall) had. Unbelievable.”
You can listen to the podcast here.
