‘I asked if he could split it for us’ — Prized relic of Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 17 game will end up exactly where it belongs
Chiefs players Chris Oladokun and Brashard Smith will each get a piece of the ball that produced their first career NFL touchdown.
The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t get the win in Week 17’s Christmas Day game against the Denver Broncos, but the game did include an unforgettable moment for two players on the offensive side of the ball. It was a moment that produced a football relic that those two players will want to cherish for a lifetime.
With just under 13 minutes left to go in the second quarter, Chiefs QB Chris Oladokun and rookie RB Brashard Smith capped off a 10-play, 35-yard drive with an impressive touchdown. Smith leaked out of the backfield on third-and-goal. Oladokun found Smith wide open at about the seven-yard line. After some tough running and a few broken tackles, the rookie made it to the endzone.
That play just so happened to be a career first for both players.
Chris Oladokun and Brashard Smith combine for an NFL first-career touchdown moment
Asked what he saw on that touchdown play, Oladokun revealed that particular play was the favorite that they had been practicing leading up to the game. Naturally, Andy Reid and Matt Nagy would go to that in a big moment.
“That was one of my favorite plays all week,” Oladokun said. “Down there in the red zone, expecting a little man look, they actually zoned it off, and their corner’s eyes just got stuck inside, so Brashard (Smith) did a great job. I couldn’t really see him (Brashard Smith), little small guy out there, so I had to shape it around the end, and he did a great job getting into the end zone.”
Asked about the move he made to get past the defenders, Brashard Smith told KC Star reporter Pete Sweeney that it was all heart.
“I have no idea,” Smith said with a grin. “I just knew I had to just keep fighting through, keep my feet up. I knew I wouldn’t be down, just keep fighting through.”
The one thing the pair won’t be fighting over is the touchdown ball. They’ll both get to keep a piece of it.
Chiefs’ equipment manager Allen Wright has a unique plan for the touchdown ball
Typically, a moment like this would involve Patrick Mahomes chasing down a football to ensure his teammates could keep it. It’s unclear who retrieved the ball as Chris Oladokun and Brashard Smith were both celebrating the moment on the field. What is clear, though? The plan with the touchdown ball.
“Initially, I saw the ball,” Oladokun said. “He (Brashard Smith) scored and threw the ball down, and my first thought was, ‘Wait, one of us needs that ball.’ And then my second thought was, ‘Well, I’m hype right now, so I’m going to go celebrate with my teammates, and I didn’t see the ball again. But (Equipment Director) Allen (Wright) said he has it, and I asked if he could split it for us, and he’s going to do that too.”
“Uh, we’re going to cut it in half,” Smith told reporters. “I really want it, and he wants it also, so we’re going to cut it.”
How exactly do you cut a football in half? Do you split it at the laces long ways or split it in half? Oladokun didn’t know the answer himself.
“I’m going to have to Google that after tonight because I have no clue,” Oladokun joked. “But we have a great equipment team, so they’ll get it done for us.”
I guess that’ll be part of the surprise.
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