These all-time KC Chiefs draft bargains share their NFL (and AFL) selection stories

Yes, the Chiefs traded up in the first round to select franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

But simple math tells us the majority of NFL players, even among the stars, were not taken in the first round. The Chiefs, for instance, currently have just four players they drafted in the first round on their roster: Mahomes, cornerback Trent McDuffie, defensive end George Karlaftis and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

Stars defensive end Chris Jones and tight end Travis Kelce were selected in the second and third rounds, respectively.

In some years, the Chiefs have traded out of the first round to find greater value in later rounds. During Brett Veach’s five years as general manager, the Chiefs haven’t had a first-round pick three times. It’s worked out OK, with two Super Bowl victories and five straight AFC Championship Game appearances.

Some of the best players in Chiefs history not only weren’t selected in the first round, they dropped further than expected on the draft board. Two such players, defensive end Bobby Bell and offensive guard Will Shields, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A third, offensive lineman Trey Smith, just finished his second season with a Super Bowl victory.

All three men felt some level of draft anxiety, same as hundreds of prospects who will hear their names called during this year’s NFL Draft at Union Station in Kansas City, which begins on Thursday.

Here are their stories:

Trey Smith: Sixth-round steal

After his All-SEC second-team freshman season at Tennessee, Smith was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs. Eventually, doctors would say they were seeing scar tissue from previous clots.

He’d play two more all-conference seasons in Knoxville, but the medical reports worried enough teams that Smith’s draft experience in 2021 became pretty forgettable.

“I was a guy who had first-round potential, but I didn’t think I’d go in the first round,” Smith said. “Second, third round was probably my target area.”

His family was ready. Friends, food, “the classic draft setup,” Smith said. But there was no celebration on the first or second days.

“Day two goes by and I’m thinking I might not have an opportunity to play in the league,” Smith said. “My dream might be completely squashed because of my medical situation.”

Then came Saturday, when rounds four through six were conducted, Smith got a call from then-Jacksonville coach Urban Meyer, who said the Jags were going to sign Smith as a free agent. It appeared that Jacksonville represented his NFL future as an undrafted player.

But a few minutes later, the Chiefs called Smith and informed him that he’d be their sixth-round selection.

Great news ... with only one downside.

“My dad had gone out to get some chicken fingers,” Smith said.

Smith has since started 39 regular-season and playoff games and owns a Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs.

“The biggest thing I took away from it is regardless of where you go in the draft, when you step foot in the facility and step foot on the football field, bring every amount of anger, passion, every amount of self-doubt and let that fuel you throughout your career,” Smith said.

Will Shields: Played with a chip

In 1993, the Chiefs had traded their first-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for Joe Montana and their second-round selection in another deal. Thus, their first pick that year wasn’t until Round 3, No. 74 overall.

Shields, the Outland Trophy winner from Nebraska, figured he’d be gone by then. He watched the draft from his Lincoln apartment and saw other guards selected ahead of him. He had received a call from a team in the second round telling him to be ready.

But the follow-up call never came. Not from that team, anyway.

It would be the Chiefs who’d eventually make the call, and the selection. But Shields had an inkling this could happen: The Chiefs were the only team that put him through an extensive pre-draft interview.

Still, Shields arrived in the NFL with an attitude.

“It put a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I wanted to prove that I should have been up there in the top two rounds. But it worked out well.”

Yes it did. Shields didn’t start his first game, but he did the next one, and every one of his 14-year NFL career after that. His total of 223 starts here remains a Chiefs record, as does his 12 Pro Bowl appearances.

In 2015, Shields was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

What would Shields say to the draft prospects coming to Kansas City this week?

“It’s cool to be on top,” he said. “But you still have to go back it up and prove yourself. You have to start over and make sure you are what they think you are.”

Bobby Bell: Worth the 15 cents and more

University of Minnesota coach Murray Warmath called Bell the greatest lineman he’d ever seen after Bell helped lead the Golden Gophers to the 1961 national championship.

After another All-America season, Bell was eligible for the 1963 drafts that occurred on Dec. 3, 1962.

“My draft day?” Bell said. “I didn’t have one.”

Bell was in class while the business of professional football unfolded.. Afterward, he heard he had been selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the NFL Draft and the Dallas Texans in the seventh round of the AFL Draft.

The Vikings were favored to land Bell, but Lamar Hunt, who founded the Texans — which in a matter of months would become the Kansas City Chiefs — visited Bell and offered him a guaranteed contract.

“Lamar said he wanted me to be part of the family,” Bell recalled. “I had never met the man before. But he took care of me, gave me a long-term contract, guaranteed my contract. The Vikings offered a three-year contract but wouldn’t guarantee it.”

Nevertheless, Bell soon found himself wondering about joining the Texans. He and Hunt had flown to New York to finalize the deal. And Hunt traveled with no cash.

“I had to pay for the cab and toll,” said Bell, now 82, who upon getting to the hotel called his advisor and asked if he was signing with the right team.

On Bell’s 60th birthday, he received a card from Hunt. Taped inside was a dime and a nickel, the cost of the toll.

Bell gave Hunt and the Chiefs much more than 15 cents. He started his career as a defensive end, moved to outside linebacker after a couple of seasons and also spent time as the team’s long-snapper.

He didn’t miss a game in his 12 seasons, was named to the Pro Bowl team or All-AFL all-star team nine times and became the first Chiefs played enshrined in Canton in 1983 — further proof that the first round doesn’t produce all the star players.