28 February 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — The Kansas City Chiefs are at the bottom of the NFL for the second straight year, according to NFLPA report cards.
In the 2023 report that 60% of the league voted on anonymously, the Chiefs ranked 29th out of 32 teams. Team travel, outdated facilities and training room/training staff were the major factors for the negative ranking.
The report says 56% of respondents believed that Chiefs owner Clark Hunt was willing to invest money to upgrade the training facility, ranking him 27th in this category.
Now, in 2024, the Chiefs followed up that report card by being ranked 31st out of 32 teams, with owner Clark Hunt being ranked as the worst owner in the NFL.
More than 77% of the NFL responded to this year’s report card.
Hunt’s ranking is based on the players’ belief that he’s the least willing to invest in team facilities among all NFL owners/ownership groups.
CategoryGradeRank out of 32Treatment of FamiliesD+18thFood/CafeteriaC-26thNutritionist/DieticianF31stLocker RoomF28thTraining RoomD31stTraining StaffF32ndWeight RoomC+23rdStrength CoachesC+27thTeam TravelD27thHead CoachA+1stOwnershipF-32nd
The main complaint is about the practice facility locker room, where players received chairs with backs in response to last year’s report card. They were promised a renovated locker room after the 2022 season.
Players returned from their Super Bowl-winning season to the same locker room aside from the chairs added to their locker room.
The Arrowhead Stadium locker room was renovated in 2021. Players only sit there on game day.
Hunt said he didn’t know which locker room the NFLPA report card was referring to since Arrowhead’s locker room was renovated, but he responded to the report after the Chiefs presented Arrowhead renovations Wednesday.
“I mentioned that the practice facility is something we’re going to continue to think about. It’s coming up on 20 years,” Hunt said. “We certainly, in a lot of ways, have outgrown it, and we recognize that we have a need to expand it and modernize it.”
Also among the worst grades on the 2024 report card was the training staff, who received a low score again as the worst in the NFL.
Players feel that the training staff is significantly understaffed, with only 43% of the team responding that they get an adequate amount of one-on-one treatment time.
Players also feel the staff is unwilling to provide the necessary treatment to support recovery and performance. For example, players aren’t allowed to get preventative treatment (soft tissue work, other care) for soreness and day-to-day issues, a regular offering across the NFL.
The Chiefs also got an F for their head dietician, who players said is very rarely present at the facility.
Treatment of families also worsened from a B in 2023 to a D+ in 2024. Additionally, strength coaches worsened from an A- to a C+, while team travel improved from an F to a D.
The saving grace for the report card is the A+ grade of head coach Andy Reid, the highest in the league. Players said Reid is willing to listen and efficient with their time.
The full 2024 report can be viewed here.