Arrowhead Pride
The Kansas City Chiefs’ wide receivers coach Connor Embree will be the first to admit that wide receivers sometimes get a bad rap for being selfish.
But that’s not true at Kansas City’s Truman Sports Complex — a diva-free zone where the Chiefs’ wide receivers have adopted the motto EGE. That’s short for Everybody Gotta Eat.
It started during the offseason, when the team’s star wideout Rashee Rice posted a video where he was out in the community, handing out pizza and water to the homeless. At the start, Rice says, “Everybody gotta eat.”
Rice’s phrase stuck in the wide receiver room, where it evolved to mean that in the Kansas City offense, everyone will get their turn to shine. It’s not about how many chances each player gets. Instead, it’s about what they do when their number is called.
During training camp, the Chiefs’ coaches reinforced this message.
“I told the group at the start of the year, it doesn’t matter if we win two to zero or 100 to nothing,” recalled Embree. “I don’t care if you guys get 100 catches or zero catches. The most important part is to win — and I think they just buy into that. The whole team does. That’s why we are who we are.”
In an era when players are usually judged by individual statistics, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy sees that his receivers have instead chosen to value camaraderie and team success.
“Everyone throws around the word ‘culture’” observed Nagy. “It’s the relationships that these guys have built; it’s something that’s special. We’ve talked about it in the last couple of weeks — [about] what these guys have done in that wide receiver room.”
Nagy illustrated his point with wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, who has developed into one of the team’s biggest offensive weapons during the early part of the season.
“There’s only one football — so statistically, these guys are going to have a certain amount of plays or catches or touchdowns,” Nagy explained. “[But if] you look at a guy like Thornton last week, he didn’t have a catch. [But he’s] so important to this offense. He’s a team player — a great kid — and the guys are just embracing that. And we’re having fun.
“It’s selfless football. It’s every day — it’s not just pick-and-choose — and I think that’s a credit to those players for embracing that [and] understanding it.”
Embree believes the bond the receivers have built is a strength of the unit.
“The biggest thing, I think, is they all like to watch each other succeed,” he said. “They’re each other’s biggest fans, and they’re truly just all brothers.”
These relationships extend beyond the doors of the team facility, too.
“They really just love hanging out,” said Embree. “[They] love being with each other. When they’re not in the building, they’re doing something together outside of the building. I think that’s just special.”
Passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier noted that the receivers have managed...
