— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 25, 2023
The successful Super Bowl run of the Kansas City Chiefs allowed for many past issues or criticisms to be forgotten from the 2022 season. The Chiefs may have addressed most of their problems en route to the title, but some have lingered into the offseason.
A controversial topic from last season centered around the sporadic kicking problems from Harrison Butker. During the home stretch of the regular season in December, former Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt provided critical commentary on current team punter Tommy Townsend’s holding and positioning of the football during field goals and PATs.
“He’s an exceptional punter,” Colquitt tweeted. “If you look back at the holds on the extra point, the laces are facing the sidelines, and on the missed 50+ yarder, he pulled the ball to him at the last second and forced the ball to go to the right -he’s been missing the spot all year.”
Townsend was defended immediately by head coach Andy Reid and Butker showing support for the All-Pro. There wasn’t much of a response from the former Florida Gators standout until the team recently released a convincing, yet funny video of Townsend from OTAs. The clip features Townsend looking back at the camera with a smile and sarcastic thumbs-up as he holds a kick for Harrison Butker at practice. It’s a perfect hold and kick, along with a fairly direct shot at the criticism from Colquitt and others.
