The Kansas City Chiefs franchise has featured many iconic players in the team’s history. Tamba Hali spent all eleven seasons in the NFL playing for the Chiefs. He was drafted in the first round of the 2006 draft out of Penn State, starting all 16 games as a rookie with the team.
Recently, Hali appeared as a guest on the “Upon Further Review” podcast with Zach Brook. The two discussed a number of topics, but one of the most intriguing was when Brook asked Hali about Andy Reid’s impact once he took over as head coach in Kansas City in 2013.
“Andy (Reid) is a whole different way of — the way he approached the game is way different than a lot of coaches. It’s not a lot of screaming and hooting and hollering,” said Hali.” We do that as players. He allowed us to lead, he allows personality to flare. But he just changed the culture— the entire culture. The way things should be ran.”
Hali was a 30-year-old veteran by the time Reid came to the team. He’d go on to earn three consecutive Pro Bowl selections under the coaching and tutelage of Reid.
“Obviously, he wasn’t in a rush to get rid of players,” Hali explained. “Slowly, he did it and he won with those players. But he just changed the culture. Because we had a mentality that we wasn’t the best team in the league. And every time we started to lose to a team, they knew how to just jump on us and beat us and finish us off. You know, we had great, great players at one point, but we didn’t play up to par, and coaches, coaches make a difference. So coach came in. And he just changed the way we work.”
Hali was a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro with the Chiefs, spending nearly a decade as one of the team’s defensive stars. Reid helped enable him to grow as a leader late in his career.
“We always had leaders among every group, we always had a little group,” Hali explained. “We had leaders that would even come together out of those groups to figure out what, you know, it is that we need. So Coach is different in his approach game days, so quiet, so calm, doesn’t matter what goes on. You know, he just goes by his work, and he gets it done. I was happy to be part of a winning organization in the latter part of my career, just because it’s a great feeling. When you’re winning.”
Hali was released after the 2017 NFL season and would eventually announce his retirement in 2021. He played with one organization for his entire NFL career, a rarity in today’s NFL. Hali credited the organization for making that possible for him.
“It says a lot about the organization,” Hali said. “The Chiefs organization is a family-ran organization. Clark Hunt, Daniel, Lamar Jr., Sharon — they are all very hands-on with the players and the whole thing. They always send out letters. Clark, I always have his number, I can call him directly and talk with him. He knows everyone’s name. His father, obviously, created the AFC. I don’t know how other organizations are because I didn’t get a chance to be there, but most guys that came to Kansas, most of them said that it’s different there. It was different with the Chiefs, the way they went about their business. For me, I was fortunate. Even in the bad and good times, I was favored to be there. That says a lot about their organization and how they were running it.”
As for this current Chiefs team, Hali still keeps up to this day. He was the drum honoree against the Green Bay Packers in the regular season. While many believe the pass-rush in Kansas City underperformed in 2021, Hali has a different take on players like Frank Clark and Chris Jones.
“Those are beasts in the league,” said Hali. “Right? Those are vets. They are only going to get better. It’s just, you know, it’s not much to say about them. I know those guys. I know how they played. At the end of the day, people will appreciate how much work they put in before these games. So you sometimes grade them on numbers, and it goes beyond numbers when it comes to those guys. Chris Jones is in a whole different league of his own. He doesn’t even play the whole game, so imagine if he got in shape to play the entire game? But the league has changed, so what he’s doing, I enjoy it. He gets in there and when he gets mad, we know he’s going to make a play.”
While he’s no longer playing the game, Chiefs football is still a big part of Hali’s life and focus.