Reflecting on my time as managing editor at Chiefs Wire over the past few weeks, I kept coming back to the fact that there was an alternate ending where these last five years don’t happen. I’m immensely grateful that they did, and no words that I put on a page can truly encapsulate my gratitude, but I think the most valuable part of my story is understanding why the last five years did happen.
Back in February 2016, I got my start in this space working as an NFL draft analyst. I was covering the team with Wesley Roesch and John Dillon at About.com’s now-defunct Kansas City Chiefs blog. It was my first opportunity to break into writing professionally, but for reasons out of all of our control, that opportunity didn’t last longer than six months.
I wondered if that was it. Would I ever get another shot to write about sports professionally, let alone a team that I grew up watching? I didn’t quite realize that it was a dream I had until I started doing it and then had it taken away.
Fast forward to September 2016, Chris Pirrone and Neal Coolong recruited Roesch to USA TODAY Sports Media Group as managing editor to launch Chiefs Wire. Roesch brought me and Dillon to Chiefs Wire so that we’d have a chance to finish what we initially started at the other blog.
We all took the opportunity and ran with it, but covering the NFL can be a grueling task even for those who feel young and invincible. By the 2018 offseason, I had tired. I wasn’t making much money from writing. I had applied for numerous jobs in the field, but they were met with countless rejections. I wasn’t experienced enough or my experience out of college didn’t match what the employers were looking for.
I found myself committing too much time to something that I often felt wasn’t going anywhere, even though I deeply enjoyed and believed in what I was doing.
“I’m out after the draft, I can’t keep this up,” I said. “I can’t keep spinning my wheels.”
That’s how the conversation with my managing editor went in January 2018, just four months before I would eventually take his place.
Roesch and I had secured credentials to attend and cover the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine. I had told him I’d stay on and continue writing through the draft, but that was the extent of my commitment to Chiefs Wire.
I was excited about the opportunity and experience to get in front of some draft prospects and speak to both Andy Reid and Brett Veach, but I still didn’t know what the future held for me. I knew that the combine was an opportunity to mingle with some people who covered the team and I made sure to show up a bit early to every podium session so I could seek out people who I admired from afar and ask their advice.
I met BJ Kissel, Matt Derrick, Herbie Teope and Terez Paylor — and I wasn’t bashful about asking them for advice. Even though I had grown tired, I knew that this was something I wanted to do, but was it worth it to keep going?
They all were incredibly encouraging, but the advice from Terez Paylor stuck with me the most. It was intimidating meeting him at first given how revered he was by fans and colleagues, but he put any nerves I had at ease immediately after our introduction.
“Chiefs Wire? Yeah, I know you guys,” Paylor said. “You guys do good work.”
I was in awe that Terez even knew Chiefs Wire at all, save for an interaction here or there on Twitter or a question in one of his mailbags at the KC Star. When he started referencing a specific article that I wrote while we were talking, I knew he wasn’t pulling my leg and had actually read my work.
When I asked Terez about breaking into this business and covering the team as a career as opposed to a hobby, he told me that so long as I put in the work, people would eventually take notice.
And he was right.
Before Andy Reid took the lectern at the combine, members of the Chiefs beat sat around and discussed what we were planning to ask the head coach. It was my first experience in an NFL media scrum, but I wanted to make sure that I got my opportunity to ask a question and ask one that no one else was thinking about.
The big focus was Patrick Mahomes II, who was expected to take over as the team’s starting quarterback after K.C. had traded away Alex Smith earlier that offseason. Little did any of us know the golden age of Chiefs football was right around the corner. If you had told me then that I’d soon get a chance to cover one of the greatest statistical starts to a quarterback’s career in league history or cover the team in three Super Bowl appearances, I probably would have looked at you like you were crazy.
Another big story was Brett Veach’s first draft as general manager after taking over for John Dorsey shortly after the 2017 NFL draft. I, however, focused on Matt Nagy’s departure as the team’s offensive coordinator and asked Reid about how Eric Bieniemy was adjusting to his new role. Coach’s response changed everything for me.
“I’m glad you asked that,” Reid said, before delivering his answer.
Those first five words from Coach Reid gave me an indescribable boost of confidence. It felt like I had just caught a game-winning touchdown pass and had the roaring crowd at Arrowhead Stadium behind me. It was the final piece of assurance that I needed to know that I was exactly where I belonged, even if my future wasn’t so clear.
And my renewed faith was quickly rewarded.
Just a few weeks prior to the 2018 NFL draft, I was tasked with taking over as managing editor at Chiefs Wire. Wesley Roesch had recommended to Neal Coolong that I take over for him as he left for a new opportunity. Upon my interview for the job, everyone else agreed. They’d seen that I’d put in the work and was deserving of the chance to make Chiefs Wire my own.
They also saw that I had a vision for what I wanted this place to be under my leadership. It all started with providing an even better opportunity for writers to cover the team and grow. That’s perhaps what I’m most proud of as I say goodbye — that several of our writers were able to use this platform to launch and better their careers in this space.
As excited as I am to soon share with you all the next step in my future (that will be coming soon on my social media, I promise), I’m equally excited about what the future holds for Chiefs Wire. This website is incredibly special and those of you reading now are a huge part of that. None of that will change with my departure.
I’ve been consistent in reminding the Chiefs Kingdom just how blessed they are to have such an incredible group of people devoted to covering this team. Many of them carry a passion that can only be matched by the fanbase’s love for the Chiefs.
We’ve got the best village around. It’s the kindness and sincerity of that village that helped me find my true north when I was lost in the woods.
Thank you for reading — and Go Chiefs!
