AFC Notes: Champ Kelly, Brenden Rice, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Chargers

Chargers seventh-round WR Brenden Rice wasn’t pleased with his outcome on draft day after every team passed on him multiple times. His Hall of Fame father Jerry Rice might have been more upset with the result than he was.

“My dad was hot, my dad was hot,” Brenden Rice said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “First words he said were, ‘Time to go to work, I will be with you every step of the way, I will be involved with all your workouts from now on, we’ve got a lot of people to prove wrong.'”

“He’s like, ‘Hell no, we’re going to take this to a different level. These guys going to feel us.'”

Chiefs

The Chiefs moved up to grab first-round WR Xavier Worthy who set the record for fastest 40-yard dash time at the combine. Kansas City TE Travis Kelce loves the move and clamored Worthy is more than a fast runner.

“It’s looking like Pat [Mahomes] has another extremely fast man to throw the ball deep to — or just get the ball to in his hands, because a lot of his highlights, you see, he catches the ball and he’s splitting defenders and making guys miss,” Kelce said, via his New Heights podcast. “He’s an all-around football guy. He’s not just track speed.”

Raiders

The Raiders gave HC Antonio Pierce the job after being the interim to end the 2023 season, but assistant GM Champ Kelly returned to his role after serving as interim GM. Kelly talked about returning to his role and allowing GM Tom Telesco to take over.

“When we first got together, he laid out expectations for me and I was transparent with him about how I viewed the team and some of the needs and some of the [things] that we needed to do to make this team better. I was able to check my ego and put this team first,” Kelly said, via Levi Damien of the Raiders Wire.

“It’s not about me. It’s really about Raider Nation, the alumni, to try to put our best product forward so that we can win football games for this city and Raider Nation. Tom is easy to talk to and ultimately he wants what’s best for me and I want what’s best for him and this football team. And it’s my job to support him and all we do as we move forward. And hopefully we will continue to grow trust as we work together and win some football games together.”