Your favorite Chiefs defender of all time is….

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by BossChief

I’m really surprised Jones didn’t get lire votes. I thought he would get 30-40% of the total vote. Especially after the last few years in regular and post season. We don’t win either title without him.

I’ll always love DT. He and Okoye are the reasons I chose to be a fan…but the way CJ has lead that defense and wrecked game plans the last few years is on par with the impact DT gave those 90s defenses.

I think Chris Jones is a better overall defender now than Derrick Thomas was and he has a similar charisma.

I've long had the theory that some players get into the pantheon of legend, and they're impossible or nearly impossible to knock out. It's just not done. It's sacrilege to place someone else over the top of them.

In the NFL, you've got classic legends like Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski who will live forever. And in the more modern game there are guys like Lawrence Taylor and Barry Sanders and Jim Brown who get the same treatment. It's generally guys who were memorable both in production and in style, and they also blew away the legends before them.

Derrick Thomas didn't quite reach that level in the NFL, but he definitely reached it with the Chiefs. He produced at a high level and his style was unique and memorable, and he climbed onto the pedestal before Chris Jones was around, so he's going to be really hard to knock off of the pedestal. That's no slight against Chris Jones, who is unquestionably great, but he has to soundly beat DT to claim the crown. Anything close to a tie will go to DT.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I've long had the theory that some players get into the pantheon of legend, and they're impossible or nearly impossible to knock out. It's just not done. It's sacrilege to place someone else over the top of them.

In the NFL, you've got classic legends like Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski who will live forever. And in the more modern game there are guys like Lawrence Taylor and Barry Sanders and Jim Brown who get the same treatment. It's generally guys who were memorable both in production and in style, and they also blew away the legends before them.

Derrick Thomas didn't quite reach that level in the NFL, but he definitely reached it with the Chiefs. He produced at a high level and his style was unique and memorable, and he climbed onto the pedestal before Chris Jones was around, so he's going to be really hard to knock off of the pedestal. That's no slight against Chris Jones, who is unquestionably great, but he has to soundly beat DT to claim the crown. Anything close to a tie will go to DT.

There’s a lot of truth to this. A large portion of the level of love we have for him was not just that he was incredible at rushing the passer, but he also never put on a different NFL jersey and died so early.

Or maybe the memory of his impact in my eyes has faded and Jones impact is fresh so I’m not equating them fairly for those reasons, at least partially.

It will be interesting to see if he re-signs to finish his career in KC. If he stays and has 4 good years, this poll will be fun to read back on.