George Karlaftis aims to do for Kansas City Chiefs’ R Mason Thomas what Frank Clark, Carlos Dunlap, and Chris Jones once did for him
Kansas City Chiefs DE George Karlaftis is embracing his role as the veteran in the edge rusher room. He vows to impart the knowledge passed down to him from Frank Clark, Carlos Dunlap, and Chris Jones onto R Mason Thomas and other rookies.
You might spot Kansas City Chiefs DE George Karlaftis staying late after practice to work with rookies like R Mason Thomas, VJ Anthony, and Anthony Dunn. If you do, you can thank some former Chiefs veterans for setting the standard back in the day.
When George Karlaftis was a rookie, he was surrounded by veteran teammates who only wanted one thing for him. They wanted him to find success in the NFL. That’s not always the case with every player in every NFL locker room. Some guys don’t see it as their responsibility to coach up the next generation. They see themselves as competing with those players to earn a living playing football. That’s not the way in Kansas City, though. At least it’s not the way Karlaftis was taught.
As second-round draft pick R Mason Thomas and other rookies in the room get integrated, Karlaftis is making sure they know that he’s in their corner. He’s here to help them succeed and learn the system faster. If he can accomplish that, the team will collectively see more success.
Chiefs DE George Karlaftis is finally seeing himself in the veteran mentor role with R Mason Thomas
Karlaftis got a taste of what it was like last season with Ashton Gillotte. That was perhaps a bit easier because of his familiarity with Gillotte. Now, he’s really starting to embrace that role as the veteran leader in the room who can help guys establish themselves in the league.
“When I was a rookie, (former DE) Frank Clark gave me some tips that have really helped me out throughout my career so far, and I’m really thankful that I’ve had great vets,” Karlaftis said. “Now, I’m starting to reach that role. I’m only 25, but I feel old in here.
“But yeah, I had great vets. (Former DE) Carlos (Dunlap), Frank (and) Chris (Jones), obviously. Those guys helped me a lot, just seeing keys and how I can improve offseason training and all that kind of stuff, too.”
What former Chiefs DE Frank Clark once said about teaching George Karlaftis
After training camp practices in 2022, you might have seen Frank Clark staying late to work with George Karlaftis on the regular. Here’s what he had to say about it:
- “We got some young guys. I got George (Karlaftis) who’s a first-round guy who’s got to be ready to play. So at the end of the day, part of the things I’m doing at practice is helping him understand the system faster. As a rookie, I know how tough it can be coming in when you got all these different things going on. You got people – your family, friends – they (are) all on your back and stuff like that. And for a guy like George, a Big 10 guy, I’m a Michigan guy, so we got that Big 10 bond. I just want to see him be successful. When he lines up on the other side of me, inside, wherever he lines up, I just want to see him be successful at the end of the day.”
- “(Michael Bennett), he used to come to me and say, ‘Hey, man, you ain’t getting off the ball fast enough.’ Cliff (Avril) would come to me. . . like, ‘You’ve got to bend that corner bro, turn that toe. I don’t care if you gotta break your toe and bend that corner, knees have to touch the ground.’ . . . I thank my older guys for being that hard on me because it gave me clarity on how to be a vet. It gave me clarity on how to work our rookies and bring them in.”
Karlaftis is taking the wisdom imparted by Chris Jones, Frank Clark, and Carlos Dunlap and packaging it in a way Thomas can use. Even Karlaftis admits that Thomas is a bit of a different type of player. Especially compared to what they’ve had in the building before. Despite that, Karlaftis believes Thomas is on the path to success in Kansas City. It’s all about how he and his rookie teammates have approached the first week of OTAs.
“R Mason (Thomas), he’s got a lot of juice,” Karlaftis told reporters. “He’s a body type that we really haven’t had as much of around here. He’s very fluid. He’s very athletic. He’s very explosive. And he loves football. He’s trying to learn right now, and he’s trying to prove himself. Him and all the rookies, they’re great. And like I said before, they have bright, bright futures here.”
Thomas will help keep Karlaftis on his toes, and vice versa. Drue Tranquill even revealed that Andy Reid recently joked about pitting the two against each other in get-off drills.