Chris Oladokun learned an NFL lesson the hard way in 2024 — and it will fuel him in Chiefs’ Week 17 Christmas game vs. Broncos
Chris Oladokun made a vow to himself after he was cut by the Chiefs in 2024. In Week 17, he’ll have a chance to truly fulfill it.
When Kansas City Chiefs QB Chris Oladokun takes the field as the team’s starter against the Denver Broncos in Week 17 on Christmas Day, he’ll be reminded of the lesson he learned in August of 2024.
Oladokun, for the second time since entering the league in 2022, found himself released by an NFL team. The Chiefs kept two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster to start the 2024 season, Patrick Maahomes and Carson Wentz, releasing Ian Book and Oladokun during 53-man cuts. They opted against re-signing him to the practice squad, adding Bailey Zappe to run the scout team instead.
For Oladokun, it was an eye-opening moment that made him reevaluate everything that led to that point.
“That was a different experience for me,” Oladokun said. “I was in a different city every single week, working out. I believe I worked out with seven or eight teams, so I was just constantly in hotels and getting flights and stuff like that. You’re sitting at home with your buddies on Sundays watching games, and you’re like: ‘Man, I really used to be out there on those Sundays.’
“So, it definitely makes you appreciate any opportunity you have to be in this league, no matter if it’s active roster (or) practice squad. It is hard to play in the NFL, and it’s hard to stick on rosters. But also internally, it really motivated me. Made me look at myself in the mirror and see what I need to get better at physically and mentally, and I think I had a really good plan with my QB coach back home, C.J. Bennett. We sort of attacked, and I said if I get another chance, I won’t let it slip.”
Oladokun would return to the Chiefs after Zappe was poached from the practice squad in 2024. Every moment since has been about fulfilling the vow that he made to himself not to let the opportunity slip away.
Last week’s performance against the Tennessee Titans was Oladokun’s opportunity to prove the game wasn’t too big for him. Sunday’s game, however, will be the exact opportunity Oladokun has been waiting for.
Chris Oladokun can turn his story into a Hallmark holiday movie in Week 17
The opportunity that Oladokun has in Week 17 is a rare one, with a chance to prove that he not only belongs on a 53-man roster in the NFL but that he can succeed as a spot-starter at quarterback in this league. He’ll get a national audience in a primetime slot, something that he’d only witnessed from the sidelines in the NFL beforehand, watching his friend and mentor, Patrick Mahomes, in the limelight. He’s not too keen on letting this opportunity slip away without giving it everything he has, knowing what’s at stake for him, personally.
“It’s a huge opportunity, and it’s something I don’t take lightly,” Oladokun said. “These opportunities don’t come around often, and so when you get them, take that and run with it. This is not only a big game for our team, but me personally, a big game in terms of letting the league know what I can do and letting these coaches know what I do and moving forward, having that confidence in me if something were to happen that they feel confident that I can go out there and execute the game plan.”
The Chiefs don’t have the postseason to play for, but they certainly can make things tougher on their rivals in Week 17. The AFC West division is still up for grabs after Denver dropped their Week 16 game to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Oladokun and his team have a chance to play spoiler against the Broncos, but they’re not taking their opponent lightly.
“That’d be great. It would be a great Christmas, that’s for sure,” Oladokun said. “It’d make the mood a lot lighter at home after the game, but we know we’re facing a great opponent in Denver. One of the best teams in the league right now, not only defensively, but offensively as well. We’ve definitely got our hands full, and I feel like we have a good plan to go out there and spoil that on Christmas.”
If Oladokun were to stop the Chiefs’ four-game losing skid and lead the team to an upset win over the Broncos, it’d complete what sounds like a story out of a Hallmark holiday movie. A once-forsaken NFL quarterback, working his way to prominence at the end of a season to be forgotten by Kansas City fans. That one win, however, would be just the type that lives on in infamy, like when Kyle Orton led the Chiefs to an upset victory over the undefeated Green Bay Packers in 2011.
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