At 63rd overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs picked up former Oklahoma offensive lineman Creed Humphry. Following the pick, Head Coaching Andy Reid revealed to reporters on Friday evening that their recent trade acquisition, Orlando Brown Jr., played a role in the team’s decision to pick the Shawnee, Oklahoma native.
Much like how quarterback Patrick Mahomes played an indirect role in the team’s decision to draft running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire at 32nd overall in the 2020 draft, Brown Jr. made the recommendation that the team drafts his former Sooners teammate.
“Orlando [Brown Jr.] told us to go get Creed [Humphrey] when he was here,” Reid said. “He says, ‘There’s a good one at Oklahoma that you need to take a peek at.’ We already had our eye on him. But that was neat for Orlando to put it out to us that way.”
While Brown probably figured he’d have very little say as to who the Chiefs’ front office decides to add to the team’s roster, as this is how most professional sports franchises are run, Kansas City actually listened to one of its players once again. Of course, the team had obviously done their homework on Humphrey already and were interested considering how far he fell despite being one of the top offensive lineman still on the board. The Chiefs felt it would be a no-brainer to go get the 6-foot-5-inch, 320-pound center at number 63.
While Brown and Humphrey never actually played together on the field, their time at OU did intersect. When Brown was a redshirt Junior back in 2017, Humphrey was taking a redshirt year.
Upon being drafted by Kansas City, Humphrey spoke to reporters about what it means to reunite with a former teammate and how Brown influenced him while at the University of Oklahoma.
“Just the mentality that he has every day; that he carries,” Humphrey said. “He’s a guy that’s going to go in there, do the work that’s necessary to get to the next level that he wants to be at,” he explained.
“When I got to OU that’s something that I admired right away from when I met him,” Humphrey continued. “Seeing him go in, work as hard as he can every single day, work hard in the weight room, during training, during position drills, and when we were doing stuff on our own. Just seeing him do that and the mentality that he has. He’s such a mean player on the field too, that’s something I’ve always admired about him and something I’ve always tried to copy my game after.”
Now in Kansas City, both former teammates seem very excited to reunite, and this time, play alongside one another on the same o-line in this new chapter of their football careers.
“I’m so excited,” Humphrey told reporters. “You know, I’m really close with Orlando, he’s helped me a lot, he’s mentored me a lot during my time at OU. You know, just being able to be on a team with him, I’m really excited about it and to be able to join such a great organization. I’m so excited, I can’t wait.”
