Neither of the two Olympians with NFL ties medaled in Rio.
But the Chiefs gave a shot to a man who eventually won gold.
Via Blair Kerhoff of the Kansas City Star, the Chiefs worked out American long jump gold medalist Jeff Henderson at their May rookie minicamp.
“We’re proud of him for bringing home the gold,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I think he probably had his mind set on going to get the gold.
“He worked his tail off here, but [track] was probably his primary focus.”
That’s probably a good decision.
The 5-foot-10, 187-pound wideout from Stillman College was a longshot at best to even get a camp invitation.
Instead, he put on a United States uniform, and narrowly won the long jump with a 8.38-meter jump (27 feet, 6 inches). His last jump was one centimeter better than Luvo Manyonga of South Africa.
Henderson didn’t play football in college, but won the Division II title in the long jump twice and the 100 meters once.
Patriots special teamer Nate Ebner was part of the U.S. rugby sevens team which did not medal, and former Lions running back Jahvid Best failed to advance in the 100 meters.