When he got the call from his agent, Kelechi Osemele had been attending a birthday party in San Francisco. About 24 hours after Laurent Duvernay-Tardif decided out of the season, the all of a sudden guard-needy Kansas City Chiefs had signed him to a 1 year agreement.
” My agent called me and instantly, the first thing I thought of was this is a really good group, weve got a possibility to win a champion. I have not won one– I believe its been 8 seasons because my novice year.”
” I was quite delighted,” said Osemele. I was so thrilled, I didnt even believe about it. I was quite hyped.
Osemele, 31, was the beginning left guard of the Baltimore Ravens when they beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
Picture by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Head coach Andy Reid and his Chiefs personnel coached Osemele during the 2016 Pro Bowl.
” Were here 7-8 a.m. until 6 p.m., so were around each other all the time, cracking jokes, sharing music, just hanging out– raising weights and stuff like that, so thats kind of how were building our chemistry here right now,” he stated. 2 of the most technically sound tackles Ive seen play the video game. Ive been around the game for awhile, and I d state theyre really high up there in terms of technique.
” I thought instantly, this must be a lovely method to cap off a long NFL career.”
Osemele said he is open to playing anywhere the Chiefs need him.
Prior to the Chiefs lost Duvernay-Tardif for the season, they were currently in need of a left guard, where Osemele has actually bet the bulk of his profession. Osemele made the Pro Bowl two times as a left guard– the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
” I sure like him,” said Reid. “We had him in the Pro Bowl one year, and I liked him there as a man and Im grateful hes with us. It develops a depth for us and competitors … that produces great offending line play. When you have that type of competitors, any position play. (Offensive line coach) Andy Heck works all those people in, so he keeps a rotation going and theyre all kind of interchangeable there– the way Andy does it.”
Chiefs running back DeAndre Washington, who had fun with the 6-foot-5 Osemele as a member of the Oakland Raiders, can testify to that.
Successful offending lines operate in unison, so building chemistry will be key– a job that may show harder than normal without any preseason video games. Whether he winds up next to left take on Eric Fisher or right deal with Mitch Schwartz, Osemele explained how the chemistry part of it is already coming along.
“I never ever played guard in my life. Theyve kind of just said Im going to be in a rotation. Theres a lot of wrinkles to learn, however in any shape, type or method Im able to assist, Im delighted to just do my part, help a franchise that understands how to win continue to do so.”
Thats something that I absolutely require to work on to get on that type of level, so thats something that I can find out from them. Thats absolutely what I bring to the table, so ideally, I can learn from them and they can learn from me in terms of that type of strength, specifically on Sundays.”
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Last season, Osemele was responsible for securing Sam Darnold after 3 seasons protecting Derek Carr. While nobody precisely profiles like the ruling Super Bowl MVP in Mahomes, he kept in mind Darnold and Carr walked around enough that he should be able to fit together well in security for his new quarterback.
That is– as long as he is not sidetracked by viewing his throws.
Osemele submitted a complaint against the Jets, who then launched him. He went through surgical treatment to fix a torn labrum, and now he says he is feeling strong. He explained how he just recently put up 375 pounds on the bench press 5 times.
” Hes a canine,” Washington stated. Kelechis one of my favorite O-linemen Ive ever played with.”
When he disagreed with the group about shoulder surgery, Osemeles experience in New York was brief. Osemeles physicians recommended he required surgery, and the Jets disagreed.
” Im just type of delighted that I can put that behind me today and just concentrate on being here and becoming part of an organization like this– Im definitely anticipating carrying on to that next chapter here and winning some football video games.”
” I was pretty excited,” stated Osemele. 2 of the most technically sound tackles Ive seen play the game.” Its been insane seeing him at practice just casually tossing the ball 70 yards,” stated Osemele, “simply like snapping it. Thats been insane to see– hes got a lot of skill, and his speed as well, just like on alternative plays and stuff like that. Osemele submitted a complaint versus the Jets, who then released him.
” Its been insane seeing him at practice just delicately tossing the ball 70 backyards,” stated Osemele, “much like snapping it. Thats been crazy to see– hes got a great deal of talent, and his speed too, similar to on option plays and things like that. Likewise, his intelligence, all the various cadences that he rattles through. And inspecting the audibles and things like that. For a man that young to have command like that, his confidence is pretty excellent for how young he is. Thats been quite cool to see firsthand up close.”
