After winning three Super Bowl titles in the last five years—including the last two in consecutive seasons—Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes want to write even more NFL history with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Their quest for an unprecedented three-peat is off to a perfect start, with the Chiefs being the only undefeated team in the NFL through eight weeks. In addition, Reid has received promising news even in the midst of an injury crisis.
Kareem Hunt‘s return has given Kansas City not only a perfect replacement to Isiah Pacheco, but also more veteran presence in the locker room. On top of that, the seasoned running back has quickly become a leader on the field next to Mahomes.
“Yeah, you know, he was in that class with Patrick (Mahomes) and it’s almost like he kind of never left,” Reid said of Hunt, who was made a captain for the Week 8 win over division rivals Las Vegas Raiders. “That’s how I think the guys that have been here see that, and then the guys that haven’t been here have always heard about Kareem and the guys talking about him. He has that veteran leadership ability [and] runs tough. He’s been welcomed back as if he hadn’t left. That’s why we felt comfortable doing that.”
Hunt is enoying a great start to his second stint with the Chiefs, having spent five seasons with the Cleveland Browns after a controversial exit from Kansas City in November 2018. In four games (three starts) this season, Hunt boasts 84 carries for 308 yards with four touchdowns, averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Apart from helping Mahomes during Pacheco’s absence, Hunt is providing his experience to a young offense.
Chiefs happy with Hunt’s return
Reid and Mahomes have strongly defended the Chiefs’ decision to bring back Hunt this season, understanding that the time away from the team was useful for the player to learn from his mistakes and grow as a person. The coach also made it clear that he’s comfortable with the 29-year-old carrying the ball so much.
“I mentioned before that he came back in pretty good shape other than not having played football, and that’s held true to this point,” Reid said earlier in October. “He’s been able to do a good job in practice when he was on the scout team. Then, he worked through that [and] he was able to get in the game. We started him off relatively slow and then increased it and he was able to handle both of those things. I think – and we’ll just see how the game goes – but I feel comfortable with him carrying the ball.”
Hunt was released by Kansas City in his second year in the NFL after a video of him assaulting a woman surfaced, with the running back admitting by then that he hadn’t been honest with the team about the situation.
But five years later, he got a second chance. Pacheco’s fractured fibula left the Chiefs without their starting running back only two weeks into the 2024 NFL season, paving the way for Hunt’s return as a free agent. And so far, so good.